Major League Baseball has cleared Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew to play effective immediately according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe.

The Red Sox placed Drew on the disabled list after he was hit on the head by a pitch on March 7. On Thursday, he was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list retroactive to March 27.

The Red Sox signed the brother of former Boston outfielder J.D. Drew after he hit seven home runs and 28 RBIs in 39 games split between the Diamondback and A’s.

MLB has cleared Red Sox SS Stephen Drew to begin playing in games. He has been out since March 7 with a concussion—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) April 02, 2013

Derek Jeter fractured his left ankle during Game 1 of the ALCS on Oct. 13. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Yankees manager Joe Girardi may be skeptical that injured shortstop Derek Jeter will be ready for Opening Day, but general manager Brian Cashman is certainly not.

“I fully expect him to be ready,” Cashman told CBSSports.com.

Jeter fractured his ankle during Game 1 of the Yankees’ American League Championship Series loss to the Tigers. He had surgery on Oct. 20, when the team said his recovery would take four to five months.

The team is interested in free agent Stephen Drew, according to CBSSports.com’s report, despite the fact that he has made all but one of his 793 career starts at shortstop. “I’m not looking to replace Derek Jeter,” Cashman told the website. “He’ll be playing every day for the whole year.”

New York instead views Drew as a potential super sub, while the Tigers and Red Sox are interested in him as a starting shortstop, the report states.

Drew, 29, hit just .223 for the Diamondbacks and Athletics last season. The 15th overall pick in the 2004 draft, he enjoyed a career year in 2008, when he batted .291 with 21 home runs for Arizona.

Kendrick is none too pleased with a couple of his franchise’s cornerstones. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick called out two of his stars on Tuesday in a radio interview (audio clips here).

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic has the transcript of Kendrick’s comments.

On Drew, a 29-year-old shortstop who missed the second half of the 2011 season with a severe ankle injury and has not played this season, Kendrick said: “I’m going to be real direct about Stephen. I think Stephen should have been out there playing before now, frankly. I, for one, am disappointed. I’m going to be real candid and say Stephen and his representatives are more focused on where Stephen is going to be a year from now than on going out and supporting the team that’s paying his salary. All you can do is hope that the player is treating the situation with integrity. Frankly, we have our concerns.”

Drew is making $7.75 million this season and has a $10 million mutual option for 2013.

On Upton, a 24-year-old rightfielder who is hitting .243 with five home runs and 20 RBIs after finishing fourth in NL MVP voting in 2011, Kendrick said: “I think Justin is an enigma at this point. I know he had an injury (thumb) early on and may be a little bit of a nagging injury. But he’s played. He’s certainly not the Justin Upton that he has been in the past and that we would expect of him. He’s 24 years old and it’s time for him to be a consistent performer and right now this year he’s not been that.”

Upton is making $6.75 million this season and has another three years at $38.5 million remaining on his contract.