Second Coming of J.D.?

The answer to that question is an emphatic "No." J.D. Drew opted out of the final three years of his contract with the Dodgers today, forsaking a guaranteed $33 million in order to enter the free agent market.

A first round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, Drew is most recently known for his 2004 season in Atlanta, cranking out 31 home runs and 93 RBI with a line of .305/.436/.569. Over the last two seasons in L.A., Drew put up 35 dingers and 135 RBI, much of it due to an inability to stay healthy in 2005. He's primarily a right fielder, and since the Red Sox are looking to replace Trot in 2007, Drew automatically enters the equation.

Stay away. Let's look at the career number of the two outfielders:

DREW, 9 seasons:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
960 3161 605 905 160 33 162 509 74 26 529 685 .286 .393 .512

NIXON, 10 seasons:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
982 3285 547 912 204 28 133 523 29 13 454 621 .278 .366 .478

In the numbers, Drew has only really been marginally better than Nixon, has shared Nixon's proclivity for time on the disabled list, yet has managed to out earn Nixon by more than $11 million. In the clubhouse, they couldn't be more different. Nixon's reputation, even outside of Boston, tags him as being a hard-nosed, rough and tumble, team-first kind of player. He's never been the center of any sort of clubhouse controversy, and has garnered only the highest praise from his managers. To the contrary, Drew is known as somewhat of a cruiser, getting by on his talent and never really pushing himself to the limit. He's known for not pushing himself to play through injuries, and managed to have his difficulties with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa documented in the book Three Nights in August.

There'd be no reason for the Sox to pursue a less personable and more expensive outfielder when we can can the same guy for significantly less. Drew's not worth the effort.

MATSUZAKA UPDATE: Nothing. MLB offices are closed for the day. There's probably a good chance we'll hear something tomorrow, though I have nothing concrete to base that assertion on.