Dustin Pedroia Has Given "Every Indication" That He Wants To Play In 2020

Now that the Red Sox have named Chaim Bloom as their Chief Baseball Officer, the hard work begins. That hard work being to shed payroll, while also attempting to put a product on the field that can actually contend in the American League. No easy feat.

All this talk about whether or not JD Martinez was going to opt in or out — well, he’s in and on the books for about $24 million next year. Will they or won’t they trade Mookie Betts? Can they flip somebody like David Price to the Texas Rangers to shed some payroll? What about Jackie Bradley Jr. and the $11 million or so that he’s due to make?

One of the names that never comes up, and understandably so, is Dustin Pedroia. He’s owed $13 million in 2020 and another $12 million in 2021. The last time we saw Pedroia, he told the media that he had no idea if he had played his last major league game or not. Most of us assumed that this meant that he had, in fact, played his final major league game after his surgically repaired knee continued to fail him. According to Pedroia, that’s not the case at the moment.

“Every indication I’ve gotten is he’s feeling good and intending on playing,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Monday at the GM Meetings.

Bloom said he and other front office members hope to meet with Pedroia in Arizona this week. The second baseman lives in Chandler, Ariz. The GM Meetings end Thursday morning.

Bloom said he hasn’t received an overly specific report about Pedroia’s health.

“I know he’s working really hard to make sure he’s in as good of shape as possible,” Bloom said.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking and you’re certainly not alone in your opinion. If I were to guess, the majority of fans want to see Pedroia call it a career. I’m not in that camp and I’ll tell you why. Again. Pedroia has earned the right to fight his way back into the Red Sox lineup. The odds are against him doing that, and this could all just be a scenario where he’s delaying the inevitable and he ends up retiring anyway. I get that.

But are any of you honestly surprised by this? We’re talking about the dude who broke his foot, but was taking ground balls on his knees right after that and took BP while kneeling on a folding chair. Last year, when there was no media around, I watched Pedroia take batting practice while he was on the injured list. And when nobody was around to shag for him, he went out and picked up all the balls himself just to get his work in. This is a man that you will quite literally have to rip the jersey off his back.

Until somebody tells Dustin Pedroia that there is a zero percent chance that he can play Major League Baseball, then he will do everything that he can to play Major League Baseball. If you can’t respect that, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Another thing — the Red Sox ranked 25th out of 30 major league teams in OPS from the second base position last year (.661). It’s not like Pedroia is taking the at-bats away from anybody who’s out there producing at a high level consistently. Could Michael Chavis take a step forward in 2020 and change that? Absolutely. But he’s got to earn that playing time, just like Pedroia does. And while Chavis was learning a new position at second base last year, who was pulling Chavis aside and telling him where to position himself for certain batters? It was Pedroia. Even if Pedroia isn’t able to play every day, which I’m assuming he won’t be able to, then he is by no means taking away from the team if he’s in the dugout every day.

“So, then just retire and become a coach!” Yeah, it’s not that simple. I’m sure he will heavily consider that some day. But right now, he’s being paid $25 million over the next two years to be a baseball player. And until he is one hundred percent physically unable to do that, I respect the fact that he’s doing everything that he can to justify the remainder of his contract, and also the fact that he’s a baseball machine that can’t stay off the field.

If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out. But I’ll never understand the folks who want him to just give up and call it a career when he still believes that he’s got something left in the tank. He’s only in the position that he’s in right now, months removed from barely being able to walk, because of how hard he played for the city of Boston. He gave up his physical health to help win championships for the Red Sox. The least that Red Sox fans can do is give him that support right back as he tries to play out the rest of his contract in a Red Sox uniform where he belongs.