Dustin Pedroia, a former Red Sox standout, will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time next season. The second baseman has a storied resume, but will he be able to earn Hall of Fame status? His one-time competitor believes he should.
Pedroia confirmed his retirement in 2021, having spent 14 seasons with Boston. He was a four-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion at the time. He is also the only player in major league history to win a World Series while earning MVP, ROY, and Gold Glove awards in his first two complete seasons.
Throughout his career, Pedroia’s name was linked to a heated argument over whether he was the best second baseman in the American League. The second name mentioned in the chat was former Yankees slugger Robinson Cano.
Cano made his Yankees debut in 2005 and spent the following eight seasons before earning a huge contract with the Seattle Mariners in 2013. His accomplishments include eight All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger medals, and one World Series championship.
The lifelong veteran believes Pedroia belongs in Cooperstown. “He deserves it,” Cano told Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. “He’s a person that got out of bed every day to play hard. All of the things he did for Boston, even with Manny [Ramirez] and the rest of the team, you had to consider Pedroia in the lineup. I believe he deserves it.
Pedroia’s Hall of Fame status is also up for question. Pedroia’s career was cut short by Manny Machado, robbing him of late-career numbers that would have made his Hall of Fame case a no-brainer.
Pedroia’s guts, spirit, and desire will live on in Red Sox history, even if he does not make it into the Hall of Fame.
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The Yankees’ pitching staff has a variety of first-round draft pick stories.
Making it to the big leagues is an incredible challenge. Many promising names — even those deemed elite for their age — fade away along the way, and becoming a member of this tiny group of baseball players who make it all the way to the majors is itself an outstanding accomplishment.
You might be wondering where I’m headed with these thoughts. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Yankees’ starting rotation, which is practically full of first-round picks.
Scrolling through Roster Resource, yours truly discovered that four of the Yankees’ five anticipated starters were all picked in the first round. Now, this is one of those occasions where you know all of the facts that support this assertion but have never considered it in that light.
This insight made me question how, despite the challenge of reaching the majors, first-round picks can pursue a variety of paths to get there. Many of them do not even make it this far; lefty Ian Clarkin was Aaron Judge’s fellow first-round pick in 2013, yet he never made it to the majors, even after being traded from the club in 2017.
Expanding on the Yankees’ position, veteran and former first-round pick Luke Weaver may be the first man up. Because he has a big-league contract and the team may be hesitant to start Will Warren right away, Weaver might fill in if someone gets hurt in spring training. If Nestor Cortes is the only one missing time and Weaver fills in (which seems fair), the Yankees’ starting rotation would be entirely made up of first-round picks.
This is a highly specialized scenario to consider. Regardless, it is fascinating to consider in regard to the MLB Draft. Cole, Rodón, Weaver, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt have little in common other than being former first-round pitchers. The contrasts between them demonstrate the various roads one man can take to arrive to the show.
