Via George King: Both shortstop Stephen Drew and left-hander Paul Maholm are among the impending free agents on the Yankees’ radar for the upcoming offseason. The team may reportedly be in position to drop about $300M on player contracts this winter, part of which figures to go to re-signing Robinson Cano. The Yankees have a rather long list of needs, obviously.
Drew, 30, hit .253/.333/.403 (109 wRC+) with 13 homers and six steals in 501 plate appearances while playing solid if not above-average defense for the Red Sox this summer. The Yankees actually offered him more money than Boston last winter, but he turned it down due to questions about his playing time and Derek Jeter’s ankle. Unfortunately, those same questions still exist. There’s a decent chance the Red Sox will made Drew a qualifying offer, entitling them to draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere.
Maholm, 31, had a typical Paul Maholm year for the Braves this year, with a 4.41 ERA (4.24 FIP) in 153 innings. He was just dreadful in the second half (5.73 ERA and 4.75 FIP) while battling an elbow problem. Maholm is a high ground ball (51.3%) guy who has seen his strikeout rate tick up a bit these last two years, but it still isn’t good (6.18 K/9 and 15.7 K%). I actually like Maholm more than most but he is the quintessential back-end innings eater. That’s it. I’d take a shot on him if his market dries up but he isn’t someone I would target right out of the chute in free agency.
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