Now J.D. Drew can take aim at his critics

It took the Cardinals just 30 days to sign outfielder J.D. Drew after making him the fifth overall pick in this year's draft. Which is pretty remarkable, considering the Phillies--who selected Drew out of Florida State with the second pick in the 1997 draft--had well over 300 days to structure a deal.

Drew's four-year deal with the Cardinals guarantees him $7 million and, with incentives, could reach close to $9 million.

Now that he has been signed and sent to Class AA Arkansas, Drew has a chance to prove his doubters--those who questioned his playing skills or his character--wrong.

Mike Jorgensen, the Cardinals rector of player development, is very optimistic about Drew, who was a standout in the independent Northern League in 1997 and again this year (.357 average in 73 games, with 27 home runs, 83 RBIs and 13 stolen bases). "I think what he's done shows he's quite a capable player beyond any shadow of a doubt," Jorgensen says. "What the people are looking for--myself included--is that he's going to be able to provide an impact on whatever dub he's at."

Drew did not disappoint upon breaking into the Cardinals' organization. Playing center field and batting third for Arkansas last Saturday, he was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He hit his first homer the next night.

"What you look at are the big five for position players--hit, hit for power, run, throw and field," Jorgensen says. "He gets top marks in all of those categories. We also understand he's a dedicated player, he's got a good work ethic. Those are things that you don't grade, really. Those are the intangibles that come along with an extra-special player."

Drew can now focus on his dream of reaching the majors, although he can hardly forget his ordeal.

"We told the Phillies before the (1997) draft we had team willing to pay (the signing figure that Drew and agent Scott Boras had in mind), and if they weren't, please don't draft me," Drew said in March. "People look at me as the bad guy, but the Phillies drafted me and I still have my rights." And Drew never wavered from his original request of $11 million.

Not long ago, Drew and Boras were at the core of a situation that was endangering the future of the draft. The mess was triggered by the Phillies' first offer to Drew--$2.05 million that was well below Drew's request and the $10 million deals signed by Tampa Bay's Matt White and Arizona's Travis Lee. Both, with the help of Boras, had used a little-known draft rule--it centered on a negotiations deadline--to earn their free agency after the draft.

Under Boras' direction, Drew signed with the Northern League's St. Paul Saints, hoping his entry into the professional ranks would enable him to earn designation as a free agent. When baseball spurned this attempt by Boras and Drew, a grievance was filed by the players union. It accused baseball of violating its Basic Agreement.

If arbitrator Dana Eischen had ruled in favor of the players association, and Drew still hadn't signed with the Phillies, the player would have become a free agent one week before this year's draft. This scared owners, because if Drew were allowed to dodge the draft by playing independent-league baseball others could do the same.

Eischen ruled that baseball did violate the Basic Agreement with the union when it "clarified" the rules but said it was up to the executive council, not him, to decide Drew's draft status because Drew wasn't a union member. The executive council ruled against Drew and, when he failed to sign with the Phillies, he reentered the draft.

It's easy to blame Drew for the agonizingly long and controversial holdout After all the Phillies' original offer would have been a then-record bonus for a drafted player (as opposed to the money received by free agents Lee and White). But the Phillies never came close to matching Drew's long-established asking price--Philadelphia's best offer guaranteed him $3 million and, with incentives, probably would have totaled around the $6 million mark.

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