If Drew works out a deal with the Mets, the Red Sox get another draft pick.
Update: Or the Mets didn't make an offer. No one knows anymore. Someone do something!
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, NO offer has been made by #Mets to Stephen Drew as of this moment
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) February 4, 2014
For one reason or another, Stephen Drew remains a free agent as of this writing. The shortstop had a fine 2013 campaign, and showed he still had something left after missing parts of two seasons with a gruesome fractured ankle. That's why it's a little surprising that it took until now to find out that Drew has an offer. According to WFAN's Mike Francesa, it's from the Mets.
Reportedly, the two sides are negotiating the years. Francesa claims the Mets "already offered him the money", so their recent refinancing is not the reason that this news is coming to light. In the end, though, if the money is right, it's hard to see Scott Boras and Drew turning down a deal. The Red Sox are supposedly only getting involved if all other options have been explored by Drew, and the Yankees don't seem interested. Unless a surprise party involves themselves at the last minute, like the Brewers with Kyle Lohse last March, the first team to give Drew something worthwhile will likely have him. You can bet the Mets are offering at least two years, as well, as giving up a pick for a one-year rental doesn't seem like something general manager Sandy Alderson would be happy doing, especially not when ace Matt Harvey won't even be back until 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Mets have been on-again, off-again with Drew all winter long. Their need for a shortstop is clear, and the time for them to sign one is now, as they will only have to give up their third-round pick as compensation for Drew, who received the qualifying offer from the Red Sox. The Mets already gave up their second-round selection in order to sign free agent Curtis Granderson, and their first is protected thanks to finishing with a bottom-10 record. Should the Mets wait until next year, when J.J. Hardy and others are on the market, they might end up sacrificing a first-round pick instead.
Should the Mets follow through and agree to terms with Drew, it would in turn would mean the Red Sox get the appropriate payoff for submitting the qualifying offer in the first place: a first-round pick in the 2014 draft. The Sox already added a bonus pick by losing Jacoby Ellsbury to the Yankees, and as they haven't signed any free agents with compensation attached to them this off-season, they've managed to retain their original first-round selection as well.
In addition, Drew signing elsewhere would virtually guarantee what is assumed to be the left side of the infield anyway: rookie Xander Bogaerts at shortstop, with Will Middlebrooks trying to lock down third base.