But if you don't sign Loretta, what happens if the kid has a bad ST or a so-so ST? The Yankees didn't give any rookie a job out of ST. Who was the last one? Jeter? Is anyone comparing him to Jeter?
I wouldn't offer 3 years. Chances are that we will trade him before the second year. He wouldn't be such a big ticket item that he couldn't be moved to another team. Signing him for two years doesn't mean that we'd pay him for the two full years.
That will not break the Red Sox bank. If Pedroia flat-out wins the job, we could move Loretta and eat one or two million. I think that is well worth the security.
He could be moved to another team if Pedroia wins the job outright. I wouldn't give Pedroia the job until he played for a couple of months and proved he could be consistent with the stick playing 3 or 4 times a week. Loretta could be moved for prospects before the trading deadline. Maybe we'd eat one or two million. For crying out loud we paid $1 million for "The Ultimate Loser" Jason johnson. It would be worth it. I don't like giving a rookie the full time job out of camp and not having a safety net.
If the price is right. I'm not an advocate of giving a rookie the starting job over a veteran out of camp unless the guy is a total stud, which Pedroia is not. He could use a year taking Cora's role and playing about 75 games around the IF. If he comes out smoking and wins the job during the first few months, you can trade Loretta for prospects. I don't think he will command such a large contract that no one will want him, and even if we have to eat a little of it, he'd be worth it in case Pedroi can't cut it.
With the exception of 2004, he has never been a big doubles hitter. He'll have the second or third highest number of doubles in his career by the end of the year. They got him because he puts the bat on the ball. He rarely strikes out. He's a good situational hitter who makes productive outs by hitting behind runners to move them to 2nd or 3rd with less than 2 outs. He gets on-base a lot. When you are in front of Ortiz and Manny, you don't need to supply power. You need to get on and mover runners up when you make an out. OBP is not the only method in determining the value of a player.
He has the 5th highest OBP on the team, higher than Crisp, Gonzo, Varitek, and Lowell. He is fourth in runs scored behind Ortiz, Manny and Youk. It seems that he is doing exactly what they paid him to do.