Where Were The Padres On Stephen Drew?

The Padres need a shortstop. Yes they added Clint Barmes. Yes they have Alexi Amarista. The point stands. They need a shortstop. The Padres have shown interest in Takashi Toritani, but he may not even come over stateside. It begs the question, why didn’t they target Stephen Drew? 

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The Yankees re-signed the infielder last night to a one-year deal worth $5 million that could reach $7 million if he hits all of his incentives.The Padres could have easily done a similar kind of deal and he’d check a few boxes the Padres need.

First of all, they don’t have a lot of left-handed hitting. They only have Yonder Alonso. That’s it. And Alonso can’t stay healthy. The last time Drew started a season on time, in 2013, he put up .253/.333/.443 with 13 homers and 67 RBI. He can bring a veteran, stabilizing presence to a young infield.

Drew is better than Amarista and Barmes. He’s a better hitter and he’s a pretty good fielder as well. He had a 3.4 WAR in 2013 and a 8.1 UZR in 2014.

There’s not much out there at the shortstop position now, but Drew was the best of the bunch. He would fit not only a left-handed hitting need, but a positional need. Instead, they have to hope Toritani comes, otherwise, you may be looking at Barmes or Amarista come April 6th.