Discussing what the Boston Red Sox could have looked like in 2005 if management had retained Pedro Martinez’ services until the end of his career.
There is simply no question that Pedro Martinez was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in the mid-90’s going into the mid-2000’s. Pedro’s 1999 campaign with the Boston Red Sox is remembered as being one of the most dominant single season performances in the sport. It’s easily one of the top-5 going back the last quarter century.
Martinez sported a 23-4 record in 29 starts with a 2.07 ERA and also struck out 313 batters in 213 1/3 innings pitched. He added a crazy low 37 walks and conceded only 9 home runs. Those are mind boggling numbers.
Not convinced? Pedro had a .923 WHIP that season and had a 13.2 K/9 ratio. Pedro won his second Cy Young in three years for the Red Sox at seasons end.
After spending seven great years in Boston, the Red Sox offered him a 3-year deal worth $40.5 million with a vesting fourth year option worth $13.5 million, making his entire contract value rise to $54 million. Boston thought that they had made a very fair offer to Pedro and thought that he was locked in to finish his career in Beantown.
Unfortunately, due to a last minute offer from the New York Mets, Martinez ended up signing a guaranteed 4-year deal worth $54 million. The only difference between the deals? The Mets guaranteed his 2008 season. Did the Sox make a mistake? Was the compensation pick the Sox drafted worth losing Pedro over?