What is the infatuation with this guy? I lived in Boston from 2005-2009...I was there when he started his career, and from the beginning, there has been a love for him that I have not understood. Yes, he is a very good ballplayer...but $100 million? Come on. His career is similar to that of Jose Vidro, Ian Kinsler, and a host of others that are solid, but not great players. Granted, Carlos Lee got paid 19 million and Vernon Wells got 25 million last year...and I understand that a lot of baseball contracts are inflated. Still, I dont get it. It's probably because I hated the Red Sox, as well as all other Boston sports teams, while I lived there...so there is a decent chance that my bias is getting the best of me here. Help me understand, Clutchfans...you guys know better than I do.
East coast hype. Imagine if Biggio or Bagwell had played in the NE. They would have been first ballot HOF and considered all time greats. Especially Biggio.
Pedroia is great. His full season WAR over the last 6 seasons is 6.3, 5 is all star level. He is Boston hyped, but he deserves it. He plays spectacular defense, to go along with very good offense. 14 million per season isn't bad at all for a player of his caliber.
Yeah - compared to the contracts that have been getting signed the last few years, this seems like a perfectly reasonable deal. It will be even more so in 4 or 5 years if salaries keep escalating like they are now.
there is no salary cap in the mlb, who cares if he gets 25 million? Boston isn't going to not spend money on another player just because they gave Pedroia all that money.
Then basically the Red Sox and Yankees overplay for players....which goes back to my original point. Meanwhile, you get Jose Vidro type players who are stuck in positions where they have small market clubs paying them instead of the big boys.
If Jose Vidro was 29 yrs old and a free agent today, he'd make a lot of money too. Ian Kinsler got a bigger contract (per year) than Pedroia did. They are all All-Star 2B's at a position where there are a lot of crappy offensive players.
Extremely team friendly deal. In the open market, wins above replacement have been worth about ~5 million dollars a year. He's a 5-6 win player (on pace for about 7WAR this year). He left a lot of money on the table with this deal. A somewhat comparable player in Cano is about to get a ~30+ million dollar per year contract this winter.
Homegrown fan favorite in his prime with a career .303/.371/.457 triple slash line and who provides plus defense at a premium position. Do you understand now?
