Dustin Pedroia, Lifelong Red Sox?

If there's any player on the team right now who seems likely to become a lifelong member of the Red Sox, it's Dustin Pedroia. Drafted by the team all the way back in 2004, Pedroia has become one of the game's best second baseman, and a true fan favorite in BOston. If there's anyone it's hard to see the Red Sox going without, it's Pedey.

It seems that the 2008 American League MVP feels the same way. In an appearance of WEEI's Red Sox Hot Stove show, Pedroia commented on the rumor that the Red Sox were looking to talk about a contract extension with him this offseason:

That definitely, it made me smile. Obviously, I want to be a Red Sox my whole career and play in that city, turn this whole thing around to get back to where we were my first couple years there.

While it would seem like an obvious move for the Red Sox to extend Pedroia, the second baseman's contract situation is...interesting. As it stands, he's locked in for two more years with a team option for 2015, so the Sox don't have to worry about him leaving for a while yet. The other thing is that, when 2015 rolls around, Pedroia will be 32 years old, meaning that any extension would be for years in the tail-end of his career, possibly with Pedroia on the decline throughout.

Pedroia, for his part, isn't too worried about that:

I'm still a young guy. I'm just entering the prime of my career. I'm going to be great for a long time. Hopefully the Red Sox see that and understand that.

Still, it's something that has to be taken into consideration. Based on the interview, Pedroia doesn't seem like he's going to be out to make every last dime, but he is going to leave things up to his agents and the front office. That means we can't exactly be expecting a massive home team discount, and that any contract extension will, likely, come with a fair share of risk for a team that's doing its best to avoid risk in the years the contract would cover.

All that being said, though, at some point teams do have to take some level of PR into consideration. Nobody screams "Red Sox" like Dustin Pedroia these days--arguably not even David Ortiz. While the team shouldn't make bad baseball moves for the sake of good press, there is something to be said for making borderline baseball moves for the one guy who has defined the team in recent years.