Not only is Dustin Pedroia now the Red Sox’ longest-tenured player, he’s also just one of 11 active major league players entering at least their 12th consecutive season with the same team. In fact, every player on the list has spent the entirety of their big league career with only one franchise, a highly uncommon distinction in today’s game. Among this group, Pedroia (5.6) had the second-highest WAR in 2016, behind Tigers ace Justin Verlander (6.6).
Top WAR: 7.9 in 2011 — Career highs in home runs (22) and RBIs (91)
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Top WAR: 7.8 in 2009 — MVP season; led AL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage
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Top WAR: 6.9 in 2012 — Career-high 22 home runs and 48-percent caught stealing rate
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Top WAR: 8.3 in 2007 — 30-30 season, plus a Gold Glove award
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Top WAR: 6.3 in 2009 — 10 of 14 wins came before All-Star break
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Top WAR: 7.1 in 2010 — MLB-best 2.27 ERA leads to Cy Young award
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Top WAR: 8.4 in 2011 — Pitching Triple Crown, Cy Young and AL MVP
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Top WAR: 6.3 in 2010 — 20 wins and a 1.05 1 WHIP
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Top WAR: 7.3 in 2009 — Personal-best 33 home runs; only career Gold Glove
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Top WAR: 3.8 in 2012 — 2nd in NL in right-field fielding percentage
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Top WAR: 2.1 in 2013 — 26 saves (career best) and 0.926 WHIP
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More from the Globe baseball preview
When the Red Sox introduce their roster on Opening Day, more than half the players will have come to Boston via trades. The trade-deadline selloff in 2014 in particular sparked what has been a near-constant cycle of deals, particularly involving the pitching staff.
This will be the first Red Sox team since 2002 without the loud bat and occasionally louder voice of David Ortiz. For that reason alone, this will be a fascinating team to watch develop over the next six months.
Peter Abraham, Nick Cafardo, Alex Speier, Chad Finn, Dan Shaughnessy, and Christopher L. Gasper weigh in.