Dude, that was five years ago. What he's been saying recently is not all that bad. He didn't get a deal worked out with Boston so he's going to become a free agent. This sort of thing happens all the time. He isn't holding a grudge against the Dodgers, Red Sox or any other team. Sounds to me like you (and a lot of people) have some sort of personal vendetta against the guy.
Five years ago and obviously nothing has changed with his attitude. He's a very talented pitcher and wouldn't mind throwing him up on the mound with my favorite team behind him anytime, I just think he talks too much sometimes.
My point is that he hasn't been saying anything close to the stuff that he said five years ago. He has been very diplomatic so far. You are seeing something that isn't there.
As a Red Sox fan, I appreciate Pedro's outstanding pitching over the years, but I'm sure Boston fans would get over it really quickly if he were to leave. His constant whining and complaints about disrespect are really tiresome, as are his dissing of the media and primadonna attitude. A lot of us here in Beantown support him because he's on our team, but I can see how his antics would reasonably make people from other cities label him as a punk. Personally, I think Theo Epstein is doing a pretty good job in not overreacting and resigning Pedro right away. Pedro's always one strained shoulder away from mediocrity anyway, and that, combined with his attitude, does not equal $17.5 million or anything close. If you ask him to take market rate for ace pitchers (like Schilling's $12+ mil), he'll say he's disrespected. I would not at all be surprised to see him go to the Yankees to spite the Sox who have "disrespected" him to the tune of the richest contract ever given a pitcher (when he signed). Unfortunately, I think Theo burned a lot of bridges with Nomar after the disastrously public courting of ARod. That's his one big mistake to date -- not the effort to *get* ARod, but the ill will it caused all around. I think Varitek's the one indispensable re-sign. And if the Sox spend the Nomar/Pedro money on Renteria, Vidro, and a decent pitcher, that will go down as a good winter.
Pedro is just using this as a bargaining tool. Only the Yankees could pay him want he wants. There is no better leveraging tool for a player like Pedro to have than to tell the Red Sox that it's either sign me, or watch me go to NY. Nomar, on the other hand, doesn't really have that option as they already have Jeter and A-Rod.
Were any of those games of any importance? Pitching in September without any pressure for a division title or pitching in the playoffs comes close.
I wonder if this is like when everybody thought Clemens was washed up a few years ago when the Astros could have traded Elarton for Clemens. Hmmm. I bet whoever gets Pedro will be happy for the next 3-5 years.
i tend to agree...even though clemens is much more of a workhorse...with a much bigger frame. but still...pedro is a heck of a pitcher, even if he's only 3/4 what he used to be.
It was Elarton, Hidalgo + a low level pitching prospect. Some of our low level pitching prospects at the time had names like Miller & Oswalt, so you never know.
