Drew in Dodger blue?

The Los Angeles Dodgers and OF J.D. Drew have agreed in principle on a five-year, $55 million contract. The $11 million annual salary is about a million bucks more per year than what the Dodgers were offering 3B Adrian Beltre.

I'll be honest: the entire thing perplexes me. Granted, I am easily confused, but I cannot understand WHY the Dodgers were willing to let Beltre walk-- and don't give me any of that "Jeff Kent is gonna play third base" nonsense; he's padded his career stats with the protection Barry Bonds provided in the San Fran line-up. (Color me not impressed.) I do realize that Beltre had a career year in 2004 and that those numbers could have been a fluke. However, many persons (myself included) believe Beltre's finally put it all together and should be a great third baseman for many years to come. And I'd much rather take a gamble with a 25-year-old guy with a lot of promise and potential, rather than some 37-year-old feller on the back-side of his career.

J.D. Drew is a guy I'd love to have on my club if I were a GM. He is a legitimate five-tool kind of player; his 2004 numbers prove it. What I question is giving someone a five-year deal for that kind of money when he's had a major problem staying healthy. Drew played in 145 games this year (career best); he's averaged less than 117 during five previous MLB seasons. Were I a GM, I would have liked to see J.D. have a similar season in 2005 and prove he's healthy and worth that type of deal BEFORE I offered it.