It's been said for a while now that there was a job waiting for former Red Sox great Pedro Martinez once he deemed himself ready for it. That time has apparently come, as the Red Sox have brought Pedro on board to be a special assistant to the general manager.
This is the same role that Jason Varitek rejoined the organization in before the end of last season. Essentially, Martinez will have input on moves at the major-league level, while serving as a kind of hybrid coach and scout for the club throughout the minor-league system. As an assistant to the general manager, these two will be expected to go where they are needed when they are needed. Given their backgrounds as respected, knowledgeable teammates and their importance to the Red Sox historically, you couldn't ask for a much better pairing of hitter and pitcher.
He's already done a little of this with Sox pitchers, as he and Felix Doubront discussed ways to attack hitters more efficiently prior to Doubront's dominating, dual-start end to the 2012 season. (Small sample size alert recognized, of course.) Sometimes, even a little advice and coaching from someone who knows can be enough.
Pedro released a statement through the Red Sox Twitter feed on the hiring:
"I am thrilled to be returning to this organization and to the city I love. "I am grateful to our leaders; I believe in them and I thank them for allowing me to return to the field & help us win again."
Shorter Pedro: Pedro Martinez is going to have access to Boston's young pitchers, and can impart wisdom on them. It's not going to create an army of little Pedros or anything like that, but you would have to think it beats not having Pedro around to coach and help young hurlers develop. And hey, he's already taught Rubby De La Rosa his change-up, so maybe he's got a real feel for this whole special assistant thing.