Boston Red Sox: Retirement could be on horizon for Dustin Pedroia

The Boston Red Sox transferred Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day IL on Monday, perhaps meaning retirement will be coming sooner than later for the second baseman.

The end of an era might be closing for Boston Red Sox and second baseman Dustin Pedroia. The news today indicated the end won’t be happening with Pedroia riding off valiantly into the sunset, a dream many players have that few rarely achieve.

Boston moved Pedroia, who has played in only six games in 2019, to the 60-day injured list on Memorial Day.

Pedroia, who had remained upbeat while dealing with the lingering knee injury, sounded a little less optimistic at a press conference on Monday:

"It’s to a point now where my knee is not allowing me to play every day,” Pedroia said. “It’s taken me a while to realize that. And I’ve tried so many things from braces to orthotics to rehab methods to seeing different doctors to every type of treatment possible. So I’m at a point right now where I need some time. And that’s where my status is.”"

The four-time all star hasn’t been the same since 2017, when a hard slide by then Baltimore Oriole Manny Machado hobbled Pedroia and his left knee. Though he finished out that season – with a couple of stints on the injured list mixed in – and had surgery on the knee, Pedroia has battled chronic pain since.

He’s only appeared in nine games over the last two seasons. Optimism was high as 2019 began, but Pedroia went only 2-20 before landing on the IL.

After 14 seasons in Boston and being part of three World Series championships, it appears – and is hard thing to say – that it might be finally time for Pedroia to call it a career.

The golden years

In the first half of his career, Pedroia was one of the top second baseman in the American League, constantly battling with Robinson Cano for that honor.

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A down-and-dirty, hard-nosed style of play endeared Pedroia to Boston fans and has been a huge part of Boston’s success in the 21st-century.

Some of that love might have faded over the past couple of years due to the injuries and his (perceived) notions on the Machado incident. His style of play, however, and desire to help out this organization was exactly why he kept trying to make things work on the diamond.

It’s easy to list off a list of accolades belonging to Pedroia, from MVP in 2008 to four Gold Glove Awards. All of that can be saved when he one day officially makes the retirement call.

We’ve witnessed a Boston great making every attempt to return to the field and play for the only major league organization he’s called home. Even in 2017, Pedroia battled his way through to pain to play over 100 games and still hit nearly .300.

While it would be nice to see Pedroia get year-long retirement tour, like David Ortiz before him, truth be told he never transcended worlds like Big Papi did. But Pedroia still deserves recognition and what he did for the Red Sox during his time.

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Might there be a few more at-bats in Pedroia’s future? Well, let’s never say never. It’s looking less likely, yes, and the career finish wasn’t as planned, but even if Pedroia retires within the next few months, it should be said he never stopped hustling.

And always got his uniform dirty in the process.

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