Is Re-Signing Stephen Drew the Right Move for the New York Yankees?

If you’re a fan of the Bronx Bombers, you are well aware of the teams latest transaction; the re-signing of infielder Stephen Drew to a one-year deal worth $5 million dollars, which could potentially reach $7 million if he meets all of his contract incentives. After taking a few days to break down the signing and read through various comments on social media, it’s become evident that there mixed emotions amongst Yankees fans on this particular move … similar to every other move Brian Cashman made this Winter. Some love it, more hate it, but this is my perspective on the latest roster move.

Looking at the overall big picture, this particular move is about the latter rather than the former. Don’t think for a split second that manager Joe Girardi is handing Stephen Drew any position in the infield without him having to earn it. This is a guy that waited and waited and waited some more in expectance of a large contract last winter because he was convinced by the guidance of his agent Scott Boras that it was the right move for his career.  Non the less, after missing a significant chunk of last baseball season, he finally settled with the Boston Red Sox, only to be dealt to the Yankees at the deadline in exchange for a flailing Kelly Johnson. Despite being a client of Scott Boras, the Wolf of the MLB, Drew is in no position to demand or expect anything more than a fair shot at earning playing time and at-bats. 2014 was certainly a year to forget for Drew, as he posted a triple slash line of .162/.237/.299 with a mere seven home-runs and 26 RBI’s combined for the Red Sox and Yankees last season.

Clearly teams across baseball believe Drew’s best days are long behind him, but the Yankees view this in a different way. When he came to the Bronx, he wasn’t going to remove the captain Derek Jeter from his position, but instead he was used as an ‘upgrade’ to another veteran nearing the end of his career in Brian Roberts, who was cut shortly after the acquisition of Drew. With that said, I believe Stephen Drew can still bring some value to the Yankees in 2015. No he’s not going to take over at shortstop for the recently acquired Didi Gregorious before he plays a single game for the Yankees, nor should he displace the second base platoon of Jose Pirela and Rob Refsnyder. What Stephen Drew is going to do, is that he’s going to push all three of the aforementioned youngsters to their full potential, and if any falter, the Yankees have a proven veteran who can step in at a moments notice and provide above average defense.

Stephen Drew comes back to the Yankees with a solid glove and the ability to play both sides of the infield at shortstop and second base. If worse came to worst, Drew can even provide some games behind third base.

There’s also the notion that maybe Pirela and Refsnyder aren’t quite ready to become every-day MLB position players. Maybe the Yankees are building towards a blockbuster trade that involves one of the two second-base prospects to bring in another impact arm to bolster their rotation. Maybe having depth- a requirement of any World Series winning team is the Yankees only intention in this signing. Or maybe this was a signing to win over Scott Boras and give the Yankees the last say in the Max Scherzer bidding?

What’s the worst that could happen? Drew doesn’t pan out by the mid-point of the 2015 season and gets designated for assignment? For $5 million dollars, there are much worse investments the Yankees could have made.