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2007 After an injury-marred inaugural season as a Dodger, not to mention a pair of offseason surgeries (wrist and knee), Drew put the lie to his critics in 2006. Despite aches and pains, he avoided the DL all season and reached a career high in games played; ten pinch-hit appearances padded the total, but credit Grady Little with successfully managing his workload. Though a midsummer power outage saw him go eight weeks without a homer, Drew rediscovered his stroke in September and helped key the Wild Card run, hitting .317/.462/.683 with six home runs for the month. As the season wound down, Drew spoke of declining to exercise an opt-out clause in his five-year, $55-million contract, noting he liked living in L.A., but boom times signaled by the early resolution of labor negotiations changed the landscape enough for the Scott Boras client to reconsider. Ned Colletti`s hurt feelings aside, that should have generated sighs of relief; Drew`s propensity for injury would have inevitably bitten the Dodgers. As if to underscore the point, the five-year, $70-million deal Boras hammered out with the Red Sox required restructuring after Drew failed his physical because of a bum shoulder. 2006 Despite an 0-for-25 start, Drew was easily on pace to justify both his salary and his status as the lineup`s centerpiece before getting hurt. But as DePodesta`s critics were quick to note, Drew came with a manufacturer`s warning about his fragility. His 2004 featured a career-high 145 games, 28 above his average over the previous five years. Still, the latest injury came on a hit-by-pitch; Cal Ripken would have gone on the DL with a broken wrist, too. Bashing DePo is a bit more justified regarding the contractual provision allowing Drew to either leave after 2006, or stay and soak up another $33 million of Dodger green while playing in less-than-mint condition. When healthy, he`s one of the top hitters in baseball, but whether he can keep it together for 140-plus games in any one season remains the issue. 2005 Health and performance finally intersected for the erstwhile wunderkind. Even so, because of his chronic, degenerative knee condition, he's no less of a risk for the future. There's a chance this past season was his final full one. With 116 unintentional walks, 67 extra-base hits and the fourth-best OBP in either league, Drew exceeded expectations, but he's a high-risk proposition for the rest of his career. Signed a five-year, $55 million deal with the Dodgers, who are poised to move him back to center. It's somewhat counterintuitive, but that may be the best thing for his knee; it's the quick stopping and starting that hurts him the most, and there'll be less of that in center. 2003 This year’s breakdown? Tendonitis in both knees. He’s already having significant joint trouble before 30? Is he going to break out, or did he already do it in 2001? It looks like PECOTA doesn’t care for his odds, and at this point, I can’t say I disagree. Drew’s a very useful player, but let’s not bring up Fred Lynn. Fred Lynn was great first and hurt early. Drew has only been very good and pretty much hurt all along. If this winter’s relatively new microsurgery procedure rejuvenates the dead tendon in his left knee, chalk it up to another modern medical miracle. Hope for it, because Cardinals fans deserve to see Drew play a full season, and it’s pretty certain that he’d enjoy himself. 2002 Lower back sprain, bruised chest, wrenched ankle, strep throat, broken hand. No, it's not Les Nessman's winter itinerary, it's a brief overview of J.D.'s 2001 Medical Mystery Tour. When Drew was in the lineup, he was in a very select group of performers in a cluster behind Barry Bonds, and every bit as good as advertised. Hopefully, he won't take the Fred Lynn career path into several immovable objects. If he can find his way to 650 plate appearances, he'll be a good bet for the NL MVP Award. 2001 He'll completely obliterate that forecast if LaRussa lets him. J.D. Drew is probably eight years away from being old enough for Tony LaRussa to take him seriously, something TLR made more than clear during the 2000 season. The idea that Shawon Dunston or Craig Paquette ever played while Drew was still breathing boggles the mind. Drew can play any outfield spot well, which makes him a valuable guy to have when your other outfielders are notoriously injury-prone. He's still not the most loved guy in Philadelphia, but can you imagine a 3-4-5-6 of him, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu, and Scott Rolen? 2000 Though Drew struggled relative to the expectations of instant greatness (promoted by us, among others), once he was healthy he showed power, patience, a great arm and good speed. Because of his limited pro experience, he made a lot of mental mistakes, especially throwing to the wrong base. LaRussa spent the last few months of the season harping on Drew's shortcomings and threatening that he'll have to improve or play in Memphis. For whose benefit does an established manager say that stuff in public? Scott Boras’s? To show everyone that Tony LaRussa's famed communication skills are as dead as Elvis? Drew is going to draw fire just for being Drew, so the Cardinals need to end this sort of grandstanding, pronto. It doesn't pay to run down an extremely talented young player just because the manager is cranky that the kid wasn't Instant Cup-o-Mantle. 1999 Is that all? Call me greedy, but I wanted more from his projection. His few weeks in the Texas League were enough to get him named its #3 prospect. I’m sure that’s got a hundred kids wondering how they can get Scott Boras on their side, rather than cave in and take $10,000 to skip college or something. Drew is the complete package: strong arm, good range, and a compact, vicious swing that generates tremendous power. He’s good enough in the field to push Lankford out of center right now, but it looks like he’ll be in right.
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