Jarrod Saltalamacchia Thinks Red Sox Great Would Be ‘Phenomenal’ MLB Manager

BOURNE, Mass. — Several members of the 2013 Boston Red Sox World Series team entered the coaching ranks once their playing days concluded.

Most notably, David Ross managed the Chicago Cubs for four seasons. Mike Napoli currently is the first base coach for the Cubs and Quintin Berry is in the same role with the Milwaukee Brewers. Craig Breslow went into the front office instead and became the Red Sox chief baseball officer this season.

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Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn’t at the MLB level — he has had opportunities and revealed the Red Sox reached out to him about joining their coaching staff — but coaches high school baseball in Florida and serves as an assistant for the Bourne Braves of the acclaimed Cape Cod Baseball League.

That’s a strong group of former players already in the coaching world, but there’s one member of the championship roster that Saltalamacchia believes has the right makeup to be on an MLB coaching staff.

“(Dustin) Pedroia would be a phenomenal coach,” Saltalamacchia told NESN.com on Thursday. “I think eventually he will do it. I’m not surprised (he hasn’t yet) just because same boat as me, he’s got a family, they’re young, he wants to enjoy that time.”

Pedroia, who retired in 2021, addressed a future in coaching in late May when he was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. The four-time All-Star has worked with players individually, like Massachusetts native and Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick, and even lent a helping hand to his former coach Torey Lovullo and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But Pedroia said he turned down bigger opportunities to focus on spending time with his family. He even coaches one of his son’s baseball teams.

While Pedroia coaches Little League at the moment, Saltalamacchia has no doubt his former teammate could do the job at a high level in the majors leagues. Pedroia clearly has the credentials as a respected player. He won two World Series titles with the Red Sox and was injured for a third. The soon-to-be 41-year-old also captured American League MVP honors in 2008 and claimed four Gold Glove awards in his career, too.

But it’s not just Pedroia’s baseball pedigree that would make him a strong coach in Saltalamacchia’s eyes. Saltalamacchia saw during his time with the Red Sox from 2010-13 Pedroia’s astute knowledge of the game play out on the diamond.

And Saltalamacchia could see Pedroia tapping into that to put all the pieces in place from a big-league dugout.

“The guy was an absolute beast when it came to the mental side of the game, the student of the game. He understood every aspect,” Saltalamacchia said. “The catcher is supposed to know what the outfield is doing, the infield is doing, pitchers, so they’re always good managers. He was that same guy. He knew where the ball should be going. He was watching my signs and he was already moving before the pitch was even thrown because he knew the guy could throw and where the ball was going to be and the hitter.

“He just knows all aspects. He’s smart. He works well with a lot of players to make the game easier. Not a lot of technical stuff.”