Stephen Drew likely won’t be coming back to Boston next year.
After one season with the Red Sox and a World Series championship, the shortstop wants to see what else the market has to offer, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. A number of teams are willing to extend a multiyear offer to Drew, according to the report.
Despite saying during the postseason that he would “love” to finish his career out in Boston, Drew was a big part of the Red Sox’ successful postseason run, and his free-agent stock rose.
“Obviously, if you want to win, and you want a middle-of-the-diamond player — and a lot of really, really good teams need upgrades in the middle of the diamond — he’s got a very active, very large market,” Drew’s agent, Scott Boras told ESPN.
Drew turned down the Red Sox’ $14.1 million qualifying offer, and it looks as though he will be headed out the door.
Manager John Farrell expressed hope that Drew would be back, saying that would give the team a little more flexibility with 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts in the infield.
“Personally, I’m hopeful he’s back. It buys us some time, whether [Bogaerts] is the guy going forward next year at shortstop or if he’s at third base,” Farrell said.
Drew is coming off a one-year, $9.5 million deal with the Red Sox. He hit .253 with 13 home runs and 67 RBIs in 124 regular-season games. He started all 16 of Boston’s playoff games, hitting just .111 (6-for-54) with 19 strikeouts.
