Red Sox stuck with two second basemen?
A blog post on Blleeding Yankee Blue about the Red Sox’ acquisition of Yoan Moncada made me think.
The Sox signed the kid to a contract with a signing bonus of $31.5 million. Add another $31.5 million tax, imposed by MLB, 
so that makes a total of $63 million spent on a player who has never seen MLB pitching.
The other day the Red Sox announced that Moncada will start his professional career with their A Full season team, the Greenville Drive. Cleary they are not rushing him, at least for now. It is clear that they are looking to the future. But how far is that future away? Right now there is one player blocking his break through. That player happens to be Dustin Pedroia.
In July 2013, Pedroia signed a contract extension. The new contract has started this year and will last through 2021. That is seven years. If Moncada is really as good as they say he is, I wonder if the Red Sox can keep him in the minor leagues for that long. Besides that, Pedroia has the status of a god in Boston. I cannot imagine that they will move him to a different position, unless he is willing to. As far as I can a, assess, Pedroia is bleeding Red Sox Red. If the Red Sox will ask him to move to a different position (probably left field), I think that he will look to the greater good and accept the move.
A trade comes also to my mind. I have not read that Pedroia has a no-trade clause in his contract, so when time comes, the Red Sox may even trade him despite his popularity among the Boston faithful. A trade to a different club may cause a revolt 
in Boston, so the Red Sox brass may think twice before making that decision.
Because baseball is a cold business you may wonder how loyal the club is to a loyal player. But we all know that Kevin Youkilis was also very popular among the Boston fans; he had a smiliar status as Pedey and we all know what the Red Sox did to him.
Even though some say that the Red Sox signed Moncada to keep him away from the Yankees, I think that they are really looking to their future. Pedroia will turn 32 in August, so he is at the wrong side of thirty. It will be a matter of time before his numbers start to decline. If that will be the case, I bet that the Red Sox will not let him serve his contract until 2021, at least not at second base. If they can convert Moncada into a third baseman, the problem may be solved. But then they still have to deal with Pablo Sandoval who signed a contract with Boston through 2019.
From my point of view the Red Sox have to deal with a problem. Can they persuade Pedroia to move to a different position to make room for Moncada? Or do they have the guts to trade Pedroia? If the answer on both questions is no, the Red Sox will be stuck with a big talent unless they want to use him as a trade chip. If Moncada does not live up to the expectations, there won’t be any problem, but then the Red Sox will have spent $63 million for nothing, which makes me grin.