{"id":3483,"date":"2017-01-28T00:53:20","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T05:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=3483"},"modified":"2017-01-28T00:53:20","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T05:53:20","slug":"3483","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2017\/01\/28\/3483\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Nationals Re-Sign Stephen Drew"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <b>Washington Nationals<\/b> have had a bizarre offseason, to say the least. They&#8217;ve dealt their two best pitching prospects &#8211; <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giolilu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lucas Giolito<\/a><\/b> and <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezre01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reynaldo Lopez<\/a><\/b> &#8211; as well as former first round pick <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.cgi?id=dunnin000dan&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dane Dunning<\/a><\/b> for <b>White Sox<\/b> outfielder <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?results=eatonad02,eatonad01&amp;search=Adam+Eaton&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Eaton<\/a><\/b>, and have re-signed outfielder <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/heisech01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Heisey<\/a><\/b>. They have now also retained another player of their own.<\/p>\n<p>According to <b>Chelsea Janes<\/b>, the Nationals have re-signed infielder <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/drewst01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Drew<\/a><\/b> on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n<h2>Washington Nationals Re-Sign Stephen Drew<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nationals have agreed to a deal with Stephen Drew, pending a physical, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chelsea_janes\/status\/824649395396341760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Drew will earn $3.5 million in 2017, and will have the potential to earn $1.2 million more in incentives.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Drew hit .266, hit eight home runs and drove in 21 runs. He was a power bat off the bench and having him back is an asset for the Nationals, considering the potential for injury in their starting lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Longtime National infielder <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?results=zimmery01,zimmer004rya&amp;search=Ryan+Zimmerman&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Zimmerman<\/a><\/b> has struggled with injuries over the last few years. Drew serves as a safety blanket. He can play both shortstop and second base, and while the Nationals have All-Star <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murphda08.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Murphy<\/a><\/b> at second, he can easily move to first, allowing Drew to take the reins at second. Drew will also be helpful in that he makes the Nationals&#8217; bench a bit deeper.<\/p>\n<p>While they&#8217;ve also retained Heisey, it appears unclear just how reliable the Nationals bench will be. Infielder <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/difowi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wilmer Difo<\/a><\/b> was so-so in 2016; catcher <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/severpe01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pedro Severino<\/a> <\/b>played well in spurts and it&#8217;s unclear whether \u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goodwbr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Goodwin<\/a><\/b> or\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?results=taylomi02,taylomi01&amp;search=Michael+Taylor&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Taylor<\/a><\/b> are capable of stepping in for\u00a0<b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harpebr03.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bryce Harper<\/a><\/b>, <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/werthja01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Werth<\/a><\/b>\u00a0and Adam Eaton, if injuries occur.<\/p>\n<p>Re-signing Drew helps make the Nationals&#8217; bench a bit deeper, and helps gives them a veteran presence. He also poses a power threat at the plate, and is a very good fielder. Considering his attributes both at the plate and on the field, and his team-friendly deal, resigning Stephen Drew was a very good move for the Nationals.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin: 10px 0; max-width: 550px;\"><a id=\"ld-3504-7889\" href=\"http:\/\/lockerdome.com\/6169841350483521\/9112744049813528\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"auto\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Should the one game play-in Wild Card be expanded to a three game series?<\/a><span id=\"ld-3504-7889-equiv\"> in <a href=\"http:\/\/lockerdome.com\/6169841350483521\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LastWordOnSports&#8217;s Hangs<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/lockerdome.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LockerDome<\/a><\/span><script>(function(d,s,id,elid) {window.ldInit = window.ldInit || []; ldInit.push(elid);if (d.getElementById(id)) return;var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];js=d.createElement(s); js.id=id;js.async=true;js.src=\"\/\/cdn2.lockerdome.com\/_js\/embed.js\";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document, \"script\", \"lockerdome-wjs\", \"ld-3504-7889\"));<\/script><\/div>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/616536320\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.161616% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/616536320?et=dIRkE3-XRMNj0LcP5nnrAw&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=iqp4qsH9beQf52E5lPR4E2fob7MEWmX3y28FLeFtitg=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Washington Nationals have had a bizarre offseason, to say the least. They&#8217;ve dealt their two best pitching prospects &#8211; Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez &#8211; as well as former first round pick Dane Dunning for White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton, and have re-signed outfielder Chris Heisey. They have now also retained another player of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1631,"featured_media":3490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,19],"tags":[68,649,69,943,38],"class_list":["post-3483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nationals","tag-baseball","tag-chris-heisey","tag-mlb","tag-stephen-drew","tag-washington-nationals"],"modified_by":"Will Cheney, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}