Except that Pedroia has a much better history, even recently. If you like Hernandez' 2016, who not Pedroia's when he had a 13.8 offensive fWAR?
Printable View
And yet he is still the best option for the Sox at 2B, still an overall positive contributor to the team, and not going anywhere despite committing thr cardinal sin of turning 34.
Hernandez (who missed more games due to injury than Pedroia recently) should have a place on the MLB roster next year. Just not starting at 2B...
First, I want to say, I do not think Marco can or will replace Pedey's offense, but I wouldn't say the "only way" about it.
1) Marco has been over .780 in both of his last 2 seasons at AA and AAA. While that does not mean he can do that at the ML level, it's not impossible to imagine him hitting near .790.
2) Pedey "at his worst" for a full season was .712 in 2015. He's 33 now, and one could imagine him declining next year. Plus, he's been under .800 in 5 of his last 6 seasons. That's not far from Marco's 2 season totals on the farm.
3) I wouldn't feel awful, if Marco had to play 2B a lot next year, but there is a significant chance he falls way short of Pedey's recent production. Pedey's at .764 now, and so projecting Marco to come close to that, I feel, is not a big stretch. They could both easily be near .750 next season.
Don't forget that Marco missed almost the entire season this year. He's probably got his work cut out just to get back to major league game shape.
Many on this forum don't care but I wonder whether Dustin Pedroia will age better the Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano, who is 10 months older than Pedroia.
In 1,502 MLB games Pedroia has posted 48.4 fWAR, including 1.9 fWAR this year and 5.3 fWAR last year.
In 1,995 MLB games Cano has posted 52.3 fWAR, including 3.3 fWAR this year and 5.9 fWAR last year.
Of course after this season Pedroia has only four years and $56 million remaining on his contract while Cano has six years and $144 million left on his contract.
tall and lean usually age well. Short guys don't.