Drew signs $7 million deal with Cards
Posted: Friday July 03, 1998 05:06 PM
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Drew had been seeking a deal worth $11 million |
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- J.D. Drew, who refused to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies
last season but was picked again in the first round of this year's draft by
St. Louis, has signed with the Cardinals.
Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow confirmed Friday that Drew has
signed with
the team. Terms were not disclosed but the deal is believed to be worth
about $7 million over four years.
The Cardinals have called a 3:30 p.m. ET news conference to discuss
the
signing. Drew will be at the news conference, Bartow said.
Drew, 22, had been seeking an $11 million contract, unprecedented for
a
player with no big league experience.
Drew was drafted in 1997 by Philadelphia with the second overall pick. The Phillies
refused to meet his demand for a $10 million contract, so Drew instead played for the St.
Paul Saints, an independent Class A team in the Northern League.
Drew hit .341 with 18 home runs and 50 runs batted in last
season for the Saints. He was hitting .386 with nine homers and 33 RBIs in 30 games this
season.
The Cardinals used the No. 5 overall pick in this year's draft to take a chance on Drew.
General manager Walt Jocketty has said
Drew could start in the outfield next year and could hit 30 to 40 home runs a year very soon.
"This guy, I think, is arguably the best player in this draft and may have been the best
player in the last two or three drafts," Jocketty said after the draft. "He's got a chance
to be a star player, a franchise-type player."
If Drew does start for the Cardinals in 1999, it would likely be in right field. Center
fielder Ray Lankford just signed a long-term contract with the team, and left fielder Ron
Gant, though he has struggled the last two seasons, is signed through next year.
Right fielder Brian Jordan is leading the National League with a .340 average, but
he has often been injured and is a free agent after this season.
Jocketty and Drew's agent, Scott Boras, had been meeting in St. Louis since
Tuesday, Bartow said.
Drew was listed in the Saints' starting lineup Thursday but left Midway Stadium in
St. Paul before the game. Saints manager Marty Scott told the St. Paul Pioneer
Press that Drew asked for permission to speak with his agent, then said he was sick
and unable to play.
The signing of Drew means that over the past two years, the Cardinals have come to
terms with three players thought to be difficult to sign.
Last year, the Cardinals were unbothered by the high price tag for another Boras
client, high school phenom Rick Ankiel. St. Louis took the left-handed pitcher in the
second round and then signed him to a record $2.5 million bonus.
And earlier this week, the Cardinals announced the signing of
second-round pick Chad Hutchinson to a four-year, $3.5 million contract. Hutchinson is a
right-hander with a 97 mph fastball, but he was also a two-year starting quarterback at
Stanford.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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