Tossup: Manny Ramirez or J.D. Drew?

Jeff Bradley, of ESPN: The Magazine, wrote a terrific article on Manny Ramirez. 

He goes where most fans either don't know how to look, or just don't bother: Manny's preparation.  For every hour that we see Ramirez trotting around, wearing his iPod earbuds and chatting with opposing players while his own teammates stretch and run sprints, there are many many hours we don't see.  Hours where Manny is in the tunnels, taking extra batting practice.  Watching game tape.  Preparing himself.

And unlike most hitters, he takes it seriously.  Combined with an inate feel, which allows him to convert all of the old fundamentals and really internalize them and produce results with them, he enters every at-bat with a decided advantage.  Pure natural talent, combined with intense preparation, is a winning combination every time.

It's what separates Ramirez, a 13th-overall pick in 1991, from someone like J.D. Drew, the 2nd-overall pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997.  For those who don't remember, Drew and his agent - Scott Boras - said that they would not sign for less than $10m.  Instead of going to the Phillies, J.D. spent a year playing for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League.  A year later, the St. Louis Cardinals made Drew the 5th-overall pick.

In Buzz Bissinger's book, Three Nights in August, Tony LaRussa complained at length about Drew, who had all the pure talent in the world, but absolutely no work ethic.  Drew's time in St. Louis was pretty much a waste, and after a good year in Atlanta, he came to Los Angeles to once again display his pure apathy.  He then moved on to Boston, where he was Manny's teammate for a season and a half.

So who would you rather have: Former Dodger/current Red Sox J.D. Drew, or former Red Sox/current Dodger Manny Ramirez?

Each is a pure talent, not unlike Ramirez, which has allowed them to continue to put up decent numbers.  But Ramirez is one of the best hitters in baseball, because in addition to his talent, he brings to the table intense preparation.

Their splits for the time they spent playing in the same lineup:

	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Drew	233	941	784	151	216	50	7	30	122	141	14	169	5	0	11	.276	.385	.472	.857
Ramirez	233	994	848	150	252	55	2	40	156	123	21	178	15	0	8	.297	.392	.508	.901

Bear in mind, of course, that Manny is four years older than Drew.

During Ramirez's final two months in Boston, after "quitting on them," Drew was the only Red Sox position player (with the possible exception of David Ortiz, who only pieced together 23 at-bats during that stretch due to injury) who outperformed Ramirez.

Manny was fifth on the team during June and July 2008 in batting average.  Manny had 159 at-bats during that time.  The four players who led him in BA: David Ortiz (23 at-bats), Sean Casey (61 at-bats), Dustin Pedroia (204 at-bats), and Kevin Youkilis (173 at-bats).

He was tops in On-Base Percentage, third in slugging (behind Drew and Ortiz), and third in OPS (also behind Drew and Ortiz.)

These numbers don't necessarily prove that one is better than the other, but the two are similar "types" - highly-touted draft picks.  Ramirez was drafted out of high school; Drew out of Florida State University.   Both have made some extremely bone-headed moves, and have shown a tendency to "lag" at times in their careers.  The difference is that, even when Ramirez was lagging, he was tearing the cover off of the ball.

Simply look at the best seasons of each of their respective careers.  In 2000 with the Indians, Ramirez went .351/.457/.697 with 38 HR, 122 RBI, 86 BB, and 117 K.  In 2001 with the Cardinals, Drew went .323/.411/.613 with 27 HR, 73 RBI, 57 BB, and 75 K.

Despite being four years older, during the eleven seasons during which Drew has been in the majors, Ramirez has only had one season in which he played in fewer than 130 games.  Drew has only played in 130 or more during five of those seasons.