Stephen Drew A New Deck Of Cards

The D-backs and Oakland A’s  hooked up once again in trade, this time the D-backs sent shortstop Stephen Drew to the A’s in exchange for minor-league infielder Sean Jamieson.

The two sides have hooked up on a pair of blockbuster deals before, when Trevor Cahill and Dan Haren were acquired by the D-backs. This time, it’s the D-backs sending a proven major-leaguer to the A’s. And this time, it’s a salary dump as opposed to trying to acquire high-upside prospects.

Drew was due a little less than $2 million for the rest of this season and would have to pay Drew a buyout of $1.35 million after this season since they were all but assuredly not going to pick up his $10 million option after the season. Meanwhile, Jamieson is basically an organizational player. So, it looks like the D-backs were merely trying to save themselves some money.

And who can really blame them?

Drew was hitting .193 with a .290 on-base percentage after coming off the DL late in June. Drew missed almost the entire second half of the season last year and the entire first half of this season due to a major injury he suffered in a plate collision.

However, Drew was getting a bit unlucky. He owned a .242 BABIP and had a 24% line-drive rate. Both of which usually means a much higher batting average than .193. Still, with Willie Bloomquist being able to hold his own at short and Jake Elmore proving that he can handle the position, as well, saving a few million bucks down the stretch might be worth whatever marginal upgrade Drew would be down the stretch in September.

Drew never reached the potential many saw in him. His best year was in 2008, when he hit .291/.333/.502 with 21 home runs and 44 doubles. Many thought that was just some of what was to come after being the D-backs first-round draft pick in 2004. The potential was never fully realized the parting of Drew and the D-backs was imminent after the season anyways.

Still, Drew was an integral part of the team for several years and was the longest tenured D-back. It’s a tough way to say good bye to a player that many saw as one of the core players on a rising team as recently as last season.

Chris Young is now the longest-tenured Diamondback.

Jamieson will report to double-A Mobile after playing in high-A Burlington in the Midwest League. He’s hitting .234 with little to no power while playing 113 games at short and three at second.