McAdam: Why Dustin Pedroia's situation is nothing like Andrew Luck's

The surprising -- sorry, let's skip "shocking'' for now -- news that Andrew Luck would be retiring Saturday night brought with it a litany of hot takes, more than a few of them asinine.

Some tough guys determined that Luck wasn't mentally tough enough, while some others whined that, in getting out while he still had his faculties, he had also doomed their fantasy teams. What nerve.

On Monday, the stupid didn't stop. Since Luck ended up walking away from tens of millions by deciding to retire, it was posited that Dustin Pedroia should do the same.

As timing would have it, Pedroia will be in Denver Tuesday when the Sox begin a two-game interleague series against the Colorado Rockies. Pedroia hasn't been around the team since the end of May. Pedroia initially was taking a mental break after failing again to return to even semi-regular playing time. He since has had yet another surgical procedure on his left knee.

It's unknown whether Pedroia intends to attempt to resume his career. Some orthopedic specialists suggested earlier this month that Pedroia's latest surgery would not generally be undertaken by someone with designs on play pro baseball again and thought it was more done for ''quality-of-life'' issues.

Since Pedroia hasn't commented publicly on his plans, we'll let him answer questions for himself on Tuesday.

But certainly a successful comeback, this late into the process, appears to be an epic longshot.

And here is where Pedroia's and Luck's stories diverge.



Luck, by most accounts, could have continued playing for the Indianapolis Colts, perhaps even at a high level. But wary of the laundry list of injuries he had battled -- lacerated kidney, multiple shoulder injuries, torn abdominal muscle, a concussion, bruised ribs and assorted calf and ankle injuries -- Luck decided he had had enough. He was mentally worn down from all the rehab and disappointment and wanted to have a somewhat normal life going forward.

Nothing wrong with that thinking. Luck owes no one -- no teammate, no coach, no owner and certainly no fan -- his health and well-being.

Colts owner Jim Irsay, in what likely sprung from a guilty conscience over his own reckless comments about Luck in the past and his negligent stewardship of the team for which Luck played, agreed to allow Luck to keep $24.8 million (as part of a pro-rated signing bonus and roster bonus) as a retirement gift. Who knows, there may have even been a smidgen of gratitude tucked in there somewhere.

Now, comes the suggestion on Twitter and elsewhere that, if only Pedroia would have the decency to do the same -- that is quit and renounce any claim to the remainder of his contract, his team could get some payroll relief and have more to spend upgrading the rotation and bullpen in 2020.

Which, of course, is preposterous on any number of levels.

Again, Luck could have continued to play football. But reduced by injuries and with his love for the game gone, he smartly decided not to, preferring not to be crippled at 50.

Pedroia, however, can....not....play. His knee won't allow it. As recently as a few months ago, he was telling people that he felt significant discomfort merely walking on hard surfaces. Try running the bases, turning a double play, or even swinging a bat on one leg. Spoiler alert: it won't go well.

Another key difference: despite the fact that the NFL weighs its money rather than counts it, football contracts are barely worth the paper they're printed on in many cases and are seldom 100 percent guaranteed; in baseball, they almost always are (arbitration settlements and awards aren't guaranteed until the season starts). Pedroia and the Red Sox entered into a good-faith agreement in 2013 that would pay the infielder $110 million over eight years.

At the time, most in the industry believed that the Red Sox had gotten themselves a steal. And had Pedroia stayed healthy, they likely would have.

Instead, Pedroia has battled chronic knee issues -- to say nothing of assorted hand, wrist and finger problems and hasn't played anything close to a full year since 2016. The fact that he managed to play 105 games in 2017 remains borderline miraculous.

And before you get outraged that the Sox paid him $31 million combined to play just nine games the last two seasons, recall, too, that they paid him all of $457,000 in 2008 when he was the American League MVP. These things have a way of evening out.

In all likelihood, as I wrote several months ago, Pedroia will probably hold a press conference this fall or, at the latest, next spring, announce that he can't physically play anymore and will be given his release by the Red Sox. At that point, they'll owe him $25 million more - $13 million for 2020 and $12 million for 2021.

Pedroia is entitled to that since he was injured on the job. The same would be said of a construction worker or anyone else who can no longer meet the terms of his employment because he was hurt while performing work-related tasks.

Just because the paycheck is far larger doesn't mean Pedroia is any less deserving.

In fact, if Luck story this weekend reminded us of anything, it was that while we can enjoy the play of these athletes, and cheer or boo their exploits -- yup, even the knuckle-draggers in Indianapolis Saturday night who sent Luck off the field for the final time under a chorus of boos - we don't have the right to tell them when to stop or when not to stop based on our entertainment needs.

And we certainly don't get to say that they shouldn't collect the money they have legally due them.