So Boston's not good enough for Pedro?

By Boston Dan
Correspondent for www.drunkenbleachers.com

So Boston’s not good enough for Pedro? That’s fine. Honestly, I am sad to see the guy go because he is a phenomenal pitcher, but four years and $54 million for one of the moodiest players in the game? Four years and $54 million for a guy that, even though he is still one of the best, had gotten worse and less consistent every year for the past 4 years? No, thanks. I would have loved to have Pedro stay, but we can’t break the bank to sign him.

I’m still confused as to WHY he wanted to leave. I guess it’s something you just can't understand unless you are in the game, but to me, I would rather stay in Boston for three years and 30-something million, stay with my friends, stay in a place where the manager is understanding of you cutting out to go home to the Dominican every now and then, and stay in a place where you just won the freakin’ world series for the first time in 86 years.

Instead Pedro will be pitching in front of the Mets defense, which for the past few seasons has used the Swiss cheese approach. This alone could add more than a point to Pedro’s ERA, but that’s not all that he has working against him. Pedro will also experience a colossal drop off in run support. Sure Pedro strikes people out more than any other pitcher in the game right now, but he simply will not win as many games with out Manny and Papi hitting bombs for him.

Furthermore, Pedro’s health is always a concern. Throughout the season, Francona treated Martinez with kid gloves. 100 pitches and out. No ifs, ands, or buts. You can’t lean on the guy like you can Schilling. He’s not a horse. Furthermore, Pedro has been known to hit batters in his time. He has a reputation for this, and he uses it to his advantage. If he continues to do this, he’ll take a heater to the noggin before April is through, because he is now an NL pitcher, and as we all know, this means he will have to step into the batter’s box. If he does not continue to pitch inside and sometimes bean people, he will not be as effective.

The bottom line is that even if Pedro pitches slightly better next year than he did this year, he will look worse. If Pedro is anything but great, the Mets will look very very stupid. Which they are. I almost feel bad for them.