I'm not against giving him a shot at the job. If he's playing well in ST, I'm not against starting him on opening day, but they have to have a better contingency plan than Alex (all brains no skills) Cora. Even if they re-signed Loretta for 2 years (as a high-end option), if Pedroia won the job outright, the Sox could move Loretta (maybe even as part of a package) in the beginning of the season or later. They might have to eat $1 million for 2 years, but to me he would be a valuable insurance policy. I'm not liking that scouting report on Pedroia. I thought one of his big attributes would be his fielding, but the scouting report says that he has awkward footwork. By all means give the kid a chance, but if he bombs and you don't have someone who can strep in and play every day, other teams will want a big price to fill that hole. Look at what happened last year when they didn't have a catcher to catch the knuckler. They had to give up a nice prospect and a good switch-hitting young catcher to get back that relic Mirabelli. I'd rather get someone now for $ (like Loretta) and dump him if Pedroia wins the job than to be held up and give up prospects if the kid is hitting .191 in June. This is big business. Big businesses have contingency plans for everything. I don't expect a lot from a second baseman, but let's face it, if he's stinking out the joint, the 7th (Tek) and 8th (Crisp) place hitters will not get anything to hit. He needs to hit .250 to hold down the job and not adversely affect others in the lineup.