How Dustin Pedroia’s Old Red Sox Core Could Benefit Boston’s Future

BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia already had serious chemistry with several members of the young core he rose to the Red Sox with.

Pedroia won a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2007 with veteran leadership headlined by David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Tim Wakefield and several others. That team also got major contributions from a rising core of Pedroia, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon and Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Red Sox watched those players grow up together, earning valuable time to play alongside each other at each stop in the minor leagues. Pedroia understood that's not the norm for every franchise trying to build from a homegrown approach, though the extended time together can pay off.

"It is (beneficial)," Pedroia told reporters at Fenway Park. "At that time, we were always in trades. They always used to trade minor-league guys at the deadline and stuff like that. Now, they seem like they're gold and they're holding on to everybody."

The Red Sox appear to be developing their top talent in the farm system in similar fashion in 2024. The organization's top three prospects -- Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel, are making plenty of noise together in Double-A Portland. The trio headlines a talented farm system that hopes to restore championship contention in Boston. Pedroia has seen that story before, though he cautioned how hard that path is to achieve.

"I think what our core group did is hard to do," Pedroia added. "You can have injuries. Some guys don't play as well. There's a lot of things that can happen. We were just fortunate that a lot of those guys were really good big-leaguers for a five-to-10 year period to where you can keep it going as an organization."

Pedroia's core set the standard for what homegrown cores can bring to the Red Sox. Mayer, Anthony, and Teel will have big shoes to fill as this group incrementally waits to make its way to Boston.