The Return of Pedro

New hitting coach perhaps.

Sure, that would work too. Might have to pay him twice as much for the double duty, though.

Now this I view very positively.

Certainly Pedro had physical characteristics that allowed him to possess one of the great all-time change-ups but he was a master of the art of pitching. I think that his stature and knowledge will serve us well in the minor league system and perhaps in the DR with future prospects. Papi too in that regard.

Well done, Ben.

Quite literally, I don't think I could be more excited about this. He came to Boston when I was 16years old and made me into the Sox fan that I am today (wasn't old enough to truly remember the teams in the 80s, the early 90s teams weren't anything too memorable sometimes either). His leaving - though the right move - was awful to go through, specifically following the "he aint going to no Mets" prediction from either Papi or Manny. Sentimental "yay, Pedro" moment over.

All that said - I think that a lot of the moves of special assistant, etc, to guys from that '04 team are genius in several ways. The first, you are getting knowledge from some of the most prepared and intelligent players ever in a Sox uniform (Pedro and 'Tek). I would assume that having Pedro simply talk to Buchholz and Lester same with 'Tek to Lavarnway will be nothing but helpful (who knows how much, but some small amount at least). The second is you are "holding on to the great past" without it in any way affecting the product on the field. Third, it continues to make the team more likable and marketable. Fourth, you show this as somewhere that "guys want to come back to" - a necessity from the last year and a half. Fifth - these are guys that were experts and "handling" Boston and being able to impart that to a young team is very valuable.

All of these goals, while likely intangible and secondary from actually playing the game are achieved with moves that do not hurt the product on the field (as for instance still having Jason Varitek on the active roster would). Just brilliant. Truly a move to which there is no downside.

Absolutely fantastic. Hope he gets his chance to talk to Lester and tell him what he sees different in his mechanics. And I hope he gets a chance to talk more with Doubront and talk to De La Rosa. It'll be wonderful having Pedro back in the organization.

It's a great thing that the Sox will have Farrell, Varitek, Pedro, and most likely Rick Petersen in the organization. That can only help the pitching staff.

Is Pedro going to help the Sox pitching staff? Well, would Jimi Hendrix have been a good guitar teacher? It's possible, but I really doubt it. People who perform at that level are rarely good teachers, because what they have can't be learned, and they're not good at giving instruction to normal humans because they have no idea what's it's like to be one.

Varitek probably has a better chance of being a quality coach because his career was at least partly based in coaching/leadership abilities, as opposed to being a historic talent like Pedro.

Look, it's neat that Yaz or Pedro or whoever shows up for a few weeks in spring training, but those guys really have a pretty minor roll. Yaz ain't riding the Salem bus for five months teaching Xander Bogaerts how to hit. Look at the work that Mike Cather did with Buchholz and Bard. Pedro will never do anything like that for a pitcher.

(Also, I'm not 100% sure that I remember this correctly, but wasn't it reported that Jim Rice used to berate Wade Boggs for his reluctance to swing at the first pitch? That may not be the guy you want around your young hitters.)

After reading news reports, I don't think Pedro's role has been publicly defined as yet. So perhaps comments on both sides of the issue of his potential helpfulness need to wait a bit.

If Pedro comes to spring training for a week and then departs, he probably will have minimal impact. But, if he can serve as a true and more full-time organizational pitching instructor....this could be very good for us.

The stance that a great player has God given ability and is not able to impart much value to a lesser talented person is not true in the absolute IMO. Pedro had more than exceptional physical ability. Even then he was only 5' 11"....certainly not the prototype. Those who watched him pitch with an eye cast beyond the strikeouts, hits/9 and various ratios, would have developed an appreciation for him as a master of his art. He was cerebral and seemingly cunning...one step ahead of the batter. This is one pitcher that Ted Williams would not have called stupid.

Pedro already has said that he noticed several things mechanically askew with Lester. He is only 41. He can assume more than 'light duty'. I hope that his role is an expansive one.