One point of clarification seems relevant in the wake of J.D. Drew’s surgery on his left shoulder on Thursday, which was described as minor. There is a clause in Drew’s contract permitting the Sox to void the final two years of his five-year, $70 million deal should he be on the D.L. for at least 35 days in 2009 or 2010, or if he finishes a season on the disabled list and will not be able to play the outfield the following season, due to a pre-existing right shoulder injury at the time he signed his deal. (Details found at the invaluable Cot’s Contracts.)

But none of those would affect Drew’s contract status at this point, for a few reasons: 1) it is his left shoulder that required the surgery in this instance; 2) he finished the year on the active roster; 3) given the characterization of the procedure as minor, there’s no reason to suspect that he will be unable to play outfield in 2010. Indeed, according to some of the advanced defensive measures, Drew was one of the best defensive outfielders in the game in 2009, which is part of the reason why the Sox consider him to have lived up to his considerable contract.

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