Pedro Martinez

People in Boston can't stop talking about Pedro Martinez and his comments about becoming a free agent at the end of the season and his comments calling the Red Sox management "liars". Some people are ready to bid Pedro good bye right now. I personally think that Pedro should be signed but I agree that his comments are ill-advised.

One person who is probably secretly laughing about this and also secretly hoping that Pedro does leave Boston at the end of the season is Roger Clemens. Why Roger Clemens? Because Pedro may control whether Roger Clemens gets his number retired as a member of the Red Sox or not.

The Red Sox have a policy of retiring player numbers that requires that a player meet three basic criteria:

1. The player has to have played at least 10 years with the Red Sox
2. The player has to retire as a member of the Red Sox
3. The player has to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown

Now the Red Sox have bent the rules to retire Carlton Fisk's 27. Fisk did not retire as a member of the Red Sox but public opinion was very much in favor of retiring local boy (New Hampshire's favorite son) Fisk's number.

Roger Clemens is another story completely. People are split over Clemens and many people have visceral reactions to the mere mention of his name. The fact that he wants to go into Cooperstown with a Yankees' cap has only added gasoline to the fire. What cannot be ignored, however, are the facts that Clemens is tied for all-time wins for the Red Sox (192) and is the all-time leader in strikeouts for the Sox with 2,590.

Right now the Red Sox owners can avoid retiring Clemens' number by saying that he does not meet two of the three criteria (he won't retire as a member of the Red Sox and because he's still active - he obviously hasn't been elected to the HOF). The owners can also point out that the fact that Clemens is the all-time leader in wins doesn't mean his number has to be retired. Clemens is tied with Cy Young for career victories for the Sox with 192 and Cy Young's number isn't retired.

Here's where Pedro Martinez comes in.

Pedro is only in his seventh season with the Sox and I'm sure the 10 season thresh-hold has crossed the minds of both Pedro and the Sox management. Three more years with the Sox and Pedro is almost guaranteed to have his number 45 retired. He walks away after this season and there's no chance.

If he walks away then the marketing savvy Sox management will most likely try to mend fences with Clemens to open the way for his number being retired (sort of a subtle message of "who cares about Pedro - Roger was better").

Of course the consideration of having Pedro's number retired will not be in the top 20 considerations in the decision of what sort of contract to offer Pedro at the end of the season. Theo Epstein would probably not even admit to ever considering the matter but the decision will have repercussions.