Similar to the extension handed to Bruins star center Patrice Bergeron last week that essentially puts him in Black and Gold for the rest of his NHL career, today the Red Sox have signed second baseman Dustin Pedroia to a eight-year extension reportedly worth $110 million. The interesting part with Pedroia is that he already had a lucrative deal through next season, now this theoretically keeps him in Boston until the 2021 season concludes.
Listen, we all love Pedroia and you couldn't pick a better face of the franchise than him. He's one of the top players at his position, his work ethic for the game is incredible, he's cocky, funny, smart, tough and above all else: a winner. I have to believe that the Red Sox got this done ahead of time since Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, his main rival in many ways, is a free agent this winter so he's going to get crazy money from some club. I guess Boston figured it was better to set a price for Pedroia ($14 million per season) rather than let the market dictate it.
My only request with this move that we can all be very happy about (buy a Fenway brick!) is that the used car salesmen that still own the Red Sox don't take this opportunity to give Pedroia the captain's C that has been gone since Jason Varitek retired. By definition, baseball is not a sport that needs a captain. It is a mostly useless position that only serves team marketing campaigns and over the hill writers that have nothing else original to talk about. So please spare us, we get that Pedroia is the heart and soul of the team. Fair enough, you don't have to put a scarlet letter on his jersey to let us know.
He turns 30 in a little less than a month and coming off another All-Star appearance and well on his way to possibly another Gold Glove this season, Pedroia is in the prime of his career. Despite battling a thumb injury, he's played in every game but one so far in 2013 (are you listening Ellsbury and Buchholz?) and hit .308 with .385 OBP and .422 SLG. He's scored 58 runs with 121 hits, 25 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 57 RBIs, 51 walks (50 strikeouts!) and 13 stolen bases. Plus, he's batted third basically all season which isn't his natural spot. In short, I don't know any Red Sox fan that doesn't love the guy and wish there were many more players with his approach to baseball.
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