The Red Sox shifted injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day IL on Monday after he suffered yet another setback in his problematic left knee. Pedroia met with reporters to discuss his future, revealing he’s unsure if he’ll be able to resume his career.
“I’m at a point right now where I need some time. That’s what my status is,” Pedroia told Rob Bradford of WEEI and other media. Asked if he’ll play again, Pedroia said, “I’m not sure.”
One thing is clear, according to Pedroia: Another surgical procedure is off the table. The 35-year-old has gone under the knife twice dating back to October 2016, but neither knee surgery has helped him stay on the field. Pedroia missed all but three regular-season games during Boston’s World Series-winning campaign in 2018 and has only appeared in six this year.
With it looking as if Pedroia won’t play again in 2019, he’s set to take an “indefinite break” from rehabbing his knee – which he doesn’t believe will ever heal (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com).
“Time will go on and I’ll know more about it,” Pedroia said. “I haven’t sat down and thought about retirement. I just know that right now I need a break from the everyday stresses of dealing with what I’m dealing with.”
If we have seen the last of Pedroia on the diamond, it’ll mark the end of a borderline Hall of Fame career. A second-round pick of the Red Sox in 2004, the diminutive Pedroia burst on the scene in 2007, his first full season, en route to AL Rookie of the Year honors. All he has done since then is win an AL MVP (2008), earn four All-Star nods and help the Red Sox to two World Series championships, among other accomplishments. To this point, Pedroia’s a .299/.365/.439 hitter (115 wRC+) with 140 home runs, 138 stolen bases and 51.7 rWAR/46.7 fWAR.
Thanks to the brilliance Pedroia displayed over his first several seasons, the Red Sox signed him to an eight-year, $110MM extension in July of 2013. Including this season’s $15MM salary, he’s still owed $40MM on that deal through 2021. Now, six years after Pedroia inked the first-ever nine-figure pact for a second baseman, his playing career may be over.
His injuries the last few years have dropped his career average to .299. Hoping he can come back and play well enough to get back to .300.
Naw, he ain’t that dude….He wants to contribute at a high level and I know from experience, once they start removing pieces from your knees it gets harder and harder to compete. Knee replacement becomes necessary and it’s an unknown for someone at his age…they don’t want to do replacement surgery unless you are over 50 because it only lasts around 15 years – I don’t think there has ever been a professional athlete who competed with that surgery…probably not possible, which means retirement on the horizon. The cortizone will only help so much…good for pain and swelling and even some of the stiffness, but it’s no cure for the underlying problem
Hope I’m wrong but I think he’s done and this has ruined his HOF chances. For a while I thought he’d be a lock for the HOF. Too bad.
If you look statwise, I don’t think he’s a HOFer. HOVG, sure.
He can easily reach 2k hits without injuries, and he is a career .300 with 15 hrs on average per season as a 2B, red sox team hall of fame for sure, but HOF? maybe not
As far as the HOF is concerned. Grich and Whitiker are much more deserving.
Couldn’t agree more. Bobby Grich and Sweet Lou Whittaker should be in already as it is so if DP jumps them and gets in that’s a travesty!
And Kent
Kent is a notch below, and do you think he was the only one in that Giants clubhouse who was not on the juice?
If he was squeaky clean.. maybe, he’s not squeaky clean.
Evidence? Or just bitter speculation?
Kent definitely. Whitaker and Grich? Good argument. Neither to my knowledge was a ROTY or MVP. Importantly in mybvuew, neither also has a ring. Pedie has three although I understand last year, he was more a coach than a player. Utley? Not even close in my book.
The hall concerns a players greatness not his teams accomplishments the only time I think it matters and only as a push over top is if said player was playing beyond his regular season line.
Pedroia has three rings. Ernie banks has none. Banks was the better player. There also plenty of right place right time Yankees who have five or more
Whitaker was ROTY 1978
Kent: .290/.356/.500 377/1518 All time leader in HR for a 2B…..but he’s not squeaky clean because he played with Bonds……yet Pedroia played with Manny and Papi but he’s squeaky clean?
I feel like so much of this image part is because of how media treats a certain player or how he interacts with media on daily basis. We fans also buy into that narrative, especially fans of other teams.
I don’t know whether Kent was clean, but he sure as hell was opinionated. And it appeared for a time he may have been Bonds’s least favorite teammate in the Giants’ clubhouse.
Part of me has always wondered whether Kent may have called Bonds out on his PED use or if maybe just made his opinion of any of Bonds’s other unlikeable tendencies known.
Whitaker won a ring in 1984
Whitaker was the 1978 ROY, a 1984 World Series Champ. He was also a 3x Gold Glove, 4x Silver Slugger and 5x All Star. Kent was an MVP but never won a ring.
Why must I be bitter to have that opinion?
Evidence?
1) That clubhouse.
2) More HRs in his 30s than his 20s..
3) At 27 he hits 20 HRs. with an OPS+ of 110.
5) The Balco year of 2002 he had an OPS+ of 147 at age 34.
6) An OPS+ of 106 in his 20s and OPS+ of 133 in his 30. An OPS of 123 at 39.
It’s just common sense.
About Grich. So if baseball writers don’t know how to vote for players they are exempt from the HOF?.
1981 for example. Grich led the AL in HRs, Slugging, OPS+ and finished 14th in MVP voting. He lost to Rollie Fingers. In 1973 he led all position players in WAR.
Grich and Whittier are Hall of Famers.
Kent? Kent’s WAR in his 20s was 14.5. He goes to the well documented PED capital of baseball and his WAR in his 30s was 40.8
I highly doubt Kent was clean. But even if you put all logic aside and believe he was, he still falls short of Whittaker and Grich.
Girch’s WAR in his 20s… 40.9. Girch’s WAR in his 30s. 30.2 he’s a clear HOFmer.
Lou Whitaker was the Rookie of the Year in 1978, and is very similar to others already in the Hall like Joe Morgan — and he’s better than a lot of the second basemen already in the Hall..
The only reason Whitaker isn’t in the Hall already is because he played for the Tigers. Had he played for the Yankees or Red Sox, the homer east coast sportswriters would have voted him in already.
Yup…I’m no Sox fan, but I always respected what this guy did on the field. Tough as nails and played the game the way it was meant to be played
It’s always a shame when a guy’s career is completely thrown off by injuries. Pedroia might just have to go the way of David Wright.
Pedroia will end up being a lot like Don Mattingly- Both were on a HOF path without a doubt, then injuries got in the way. Both were very popular players for stalwart franchises, so they will get more of a push from the fans than if they played for smaller market teams.
Hearing Pedroia say it hurts to walk after all the rehab work he has been doing is ominous and I really don’t expect him back.
Not a good day for the Faithfull…I believe Bill Buckner passed away today…..no, it was never his fault….
never his fault. Great player. RIP.
I can’t imagine how much frustration and pain it takes for someone as driven as Pedroia to say “I need a break, I can’t handle this anymore”.
My guess is the Red Sox will try to talk Pedroia into retiring and offer him a front office job probably in scouting. He has a great baseball mind, hopefully that can be his asset now.
It’s a shame, I remember watching him in 2006 at shortstop thinking the guy may not be the most talented player I had ever seen but would make an above average second baseman. He ended up being a true dirt dog and a leader. Pedey, best of luck.
He won’t officially retire. If he does the Sox don’t have to pay him. He will just be to injured to preform
I think they are on the hook for that contract, unless it was insured
one of the major problems with the general mlb approach to injury is, as far as I know, that they only use allopathy….so they keep getting worse and worse and worse. they never truly heal.
The 2008 AL MVP has to be one of the weaker MVP pools in recent memory
It sure was, But he was the best player.
Bye Bye.
There are players that jump from team to team in search of the biggest payday and there are those that are happy to take a bit less in lieu of remaining where they enjoy playing. Pedroia is part of that second sect. It’s never fun watching a beloved player hang on too long. Some fans get sad over it and others get angry. Some get both and become sangry. Sorry, just had to type that last part.
If he never plays again, i hope he’s satisfied with his accomplishments. Few players become RoY, MVP and win 3 WS titles. Thousands of former players wish they had even 1 of those.
He technically got a ring last year but he had nothing to do with them winning. Played 3 games in the regular season and none in the playoffs
That’s not true. His presence in the clubhouse was a big factor. We’ve heard several players talk about it.
Hope Machado gives him a call or at least a christmas card.
right?! the knee he spiked turned out to be the knee that wont heal.
Borderline Hall of Famer? He’s way, way south of the border!
Nope, not enough counting stats. Backlog at 2b between Whitaker, Grich (yes, Veterans Committee but it pushes the total number in up), then Utley. Hall of Too Bad he Got Hurt, Coulda Made It.
Jeff Kent
The fact that Whitaker not only isn’t already in the hall but didn’t even get enough for a 2nd year is enough for me to say the voters need replaced.
I wouldn’t be upset if Pedroia got in there are worse players in the hall but like you said there are more deserving waiting.
Two or three more pre injury years he’d be a easy vote.
He’s definitely not a Hall of Famer but he’s a first ballot Hall of Heart & Hustle guy. If this is it for him, not making the Hall won’t diminish his great career in any way.
Sad if it ends this way…..
One of the more clutch players, always killed the Angels. Still, sad to see him go this way.
I saw his first career hit in Angel stadium. The next two years he was a dominant player, Started as a short little pudgy fellow out of ASU, then turned himself into a mini machine.
This is so much more real now that he’s admitting it himself. None of the comments or speculation hit me until now… I started watching baseball religiously when I was 14 and Pedey is probably one of the first players I can claim I watched their entire career. I’m at a true loss for words other then I genuinely hope nobody else will wear #15 for the Boston Red Sox.
Borderline “ Hall of Fame” that is a JOKE. Why because he played in Boston? No way is he a HOF player. He had some nice seasons but HOF? BAHAHA
he had a lot of nice seasons and they bag his defense….in no season did he ever commit double digit errors…that 14 years
He doesn’t feel like a HOF’er to me but I think there’s at least an argument to be made. Descent peak but short on counting stats.
Dude is a gamer, I was never a fan of the Red Sox but you can’t help but to admire someone who made it against the odds. MVP, ROY, WS Champ, he was Jose Altuve before Altuve and the juiced balls. Pedroia seemed like a HOF lock, amassing 50 WAR by such an early point in his career. I hope he finds a regimen that allows him to continue playing.
He’s a really good player with an ROY, an MVP, and three rings. He exemplifies heart and hustle. The Hall of Fame isn’t just about stats, or Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, Palmiero, etc would be in.
In that respect, you can make a Hall of Fame case for Pedroia. Personally, I don’t care if he gets into Cooperstown or not— he’ll always have a place at 4 Jersey St.
He may not be a Hall of Famer, but he’s a guy every good team would have killed to have on their team. He was a damn good player and a winner.
Altuve needs to be careful or he will tear his knees apart like pedroia did
Always liked Pedroia. I don’t think I would call him great though. Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Rod Carew, Roberto Alomar are great….
Alomar is beyond underrated
I am not saying he will or should get in the HOF but the HOF has clearly been watered down (IMHO) so he has a chance. Career wise, Dwight Evans and Luis Tiant are still ahead of him (I believe Papi used PEDS and will not support his credentials). As much as I hated him, Thurman Munson is also a big oversight. Pedie is right with him and if Kirby Puckett is in, argument can be made for both Pedie Munson.
Lifelong Sox fan here and everyone needs to cool it about the Hall of Fame. When was Pedey ever the BEST 2nd baseman in baseball? Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano have both showed more dominance within his division never mind all of MLB. Pedey was really good at getting on base and working the count, him and Kevin Youkilis are poster boys for the moneyball era. Pedey didn’t have a great glove. He was consistently good at his peak but I don’t think you could say for any significant length of time he was dominant. To be a HOFer in my opinion you have to be dominant for a seven year period or more. You have to be one of the best within your era and colleagues to be considered. I don’t compare eras that’s why I don’t have a problem with steroid era players making the hall. I compare them to who they played against which were other steroid users.
PED users to me are a fraud and the problem is players from the past generation lost support when voters were seeing Mac, Sosa, Bonds, et so just dwarf their stats.
That’s the problem, you aren’t comparing players within the same era. For example, was Mark McGwire more dominant than say Jim Thome and was it significantly so? The answer is no. Looking at the runs being scored during the steroid era and yet look at the ERA of Pedro Martinez’s best years and you shake your head because it’s so much better than anyone else he had to get in. Too many hitters made a run on the offensive numbers record books you really should look at the Mike Mussinas or Curt Schillings and compare their numbers against their generation.
Peds have been part of the game for more then a half century. There are plenty in that would have gotten 50 games today
WHAT ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT??? For any significant length of time??? when Dustin Pedrioa was in his prime, he could hit cleanup. when he was hot, and he caught fire for months at a time, LOOK OUT. LAZER SHOW. Pedey could absolutely rake. he was dominant for long stretches, especially early in his career and was a solid defender. If he continued on without getting hurt, he’d get into the HOF. But thats not the case. RS HOF- perhaps
He was never the best 2nd baseman in baseball and that’s my criteria.
Kingbum you lose all credibility when you say Pedroia didn’t have a great glove. He was, quite simply, one of the best defensive 2nd baseman ever.
I read that part and I was like wtf? Lifelong Sox fan and says pedroia has a bad glove, must not have been watching games the last 12 years.
I think that someone like JaCoby Ellsbury should take a flyer on what DP is doing here and retire with dignity rather than hang on rehabbing simply to collect the huge salary that you no longer deserve. DP was for sure a dirt-dog type player that has these days gone by the wayside and even not being a Red Sox fan at all I still respected the hell out of. Kudos to you for leaving the game you love when you know in your heart you’re not going to come back to play meaningful games anymore and for not hanging on for 2-3 more years simply to check-grab! Enjoy Retirement, whether in baseball or not!
salary is generally guaranteed or insured
Pedroia was a great player his glove at 2nd was as good as anyone’s ever. He was gritty and really good hitter. He is not, however, a hall of famer. The injury took that away from him.
If he wasn’t injured and played the last few years with normal drop off he would of had an excellent chance to make the hall of fame. Really enjoyed watching play he was one hell of a clutch hitter and incredible defender really sucks to see him end this way.
HOFer? Nah. But Pedroia was always my paradigm for the notion that you don’t have to have great “quick twitch” or natural ability to make yourself into an above average defensive player. His in-game skills were among the finest of his era.
AND he could hit some. Just a good player, all around. And, as Francona will attest, one heck of a cribbage player.
Thank you for everything Dustin Pedroia. I’m sure the Sox will cut you a check no matter what you decide to do. You made me and many others truly believe that it doesn’t take winning the genetic lottery to be a successful athlete. Thank you for sacrificing your body for our entertainment. I’ve never seen someone do it better.
Not a big deal … just another millionaire stupid contract sitting at home!
Just another clown comment from an absolute clown.
Straight up. One of his ex-teamates revealed that he was really waaayy too into David Ortiz. So much so that he was quoted as saying, “He isn’t Boston’s big papi. He is MY Big Papi!” It is rumored that his “love” of Big Papi is what caused his knee injury to never truly heal. The insiders say he couldn’t help himself and kept putting both his knees in compromising situations… over and over again for extended periods of time. Obviously his good knee could take the punishment, yet his injured knee couldn’t handle the consistent repetitive everyday stress. Let’s all hope and pray he gets ahold of his addiction and comes back healthy to his AL MVP form.
If Nellie Fox is in the HOF, Pedy should be too.
I think Chavis might have a little to do w this too.
I hate the Redsox, I will however say that I got nervous every time Pedroia came up to bat. No one ever played the game harder and as consistent as he did
Dude had a great run and will very well be remembered as an amazing Red Sox 2B, but just let it go dude. Let the younger guys get a chance, these guys are doing good moving forward. Constantly bouncing back and forth with the IL with hardly any serious game place in years isn’t doing anyone justice.
Well I suppose the door isn’t completely shut, but man if this is the end then it really sucks that his career ended like this.. No one will be wearing number 15 in a Red Sox uniform again, that’s for sure.
I agree on an emotional level, but I’d be mildly surprised if they retired the number. lots of great Red Sox players havent had their numbers retired. that honor goes a little bit beyond the team HOF in my opinion
They never retired Dwight Evans number 24 and waited until Jim rice was in the HOF before retiring his old #14. I don’t see it happening.
big papi will ensure the laser show gets into the hof – slam dunk 1,000%
I agree. As you will read in my previous post, Papi and Pedroia have an unhealthily close relationship. They will do anything for each other… And I mean N E thing.
I’m not a Red Sox fan, but I have a lot of respect for the way Pedroia played the game. To come to MLB from Woodland California is something. Just wishing him well
Not a big deal …. just another millionaire player sitting at home after a big contract !! …. btw, just another stupid team
And once again just another stupid comment.
and you’re so dumb you had to post this comment 2 days in a row
Love Pedroria, but it’s time to move on.
If Will Clark isn’t in the Hall of Fame with a career .303 average and 2100+ hits then Pedtoia isn’t either with less.
Pedroia was always better than Jeter.