The 42 Million Dollar Man?

Is Pedro really worth 14 million dollars a year? For three years? What is he worth? I think we all can agree that we would like to see Pedro throw his last pitch on the mound in Fenway wearing a white uniform, but at what cost? A no point in the season did you know which Pedro would take the mound. The flamethrower? The intimidator? The finesse specialist? From the first inning he pitched in April to coming out of the bullpen in game seven of the ALCS, to winning game 3 of the World Series you never knew what you were going to get. That doesn't sound like a 14 million dollar pitcher to be. What follows was Pedro's ranking in the beginning of June among starting pitchers in the majors and their salary. With Pedro being the highest paid pitcher in the game you would think he would be near the top right?

1 Roger Clemens HOU $4,751,741
2 Randy Johnson ARI $16,500,000
3 Tom Glavine NYM $10,765,608
4 Kenny Rogers TEX $2,406,551
5 Brad Penny FLA $3,725,000
6 Jason Schmidt SF $7,937,500
7 Ben Sheets MIL $2,425,000
8 Mark Mulder OAK $4,450,000
9 Curt Schilling BOS $12,000,000
10 Carlos Zambrano CHC $450,000
11 Matt Clement CHC $6,000,000
12 Paul Wilson CIN $3,500,000
13 Cliff Lee CLE $303,200
14 Jake Peavy SD $350,000
15 Chris Carpenter STL $500,000
16 Mark Buehrle CHW $3,500,000
17 Kevin K Brown NYY $15,714,286
18 Steve Trachsel NYM $5,000,000
19 Tim Hudson OAK $5,000,000
20 Russ Ortiz ATL $6,200,000
21 Esteban Loaiza CHW $4,000,000
22 Kazuhisa Ishii LA $2,497,342
23 Brian Lawrence SD $925,000
24 Doug Davis MIL $450,000
25 Roy Halladay TOR $6,000,000
26 Jeff Suppan STL $1,000,000
27 Eric Milton PHI $9,000,000
28 Javier Vazquez NYY $9,000,000
29 Scott Schoeneweis CHW $1,725,000
30 Dontrelle Willis FLA $353,500
31 Joe Kennedy COL $320,000
32 Wade Miller HOU $3,400,000
33 Brad Radke MIN $10,750,000
34 Freddy An Garcia SEA $6,875,000
35 Oliver Perez PIT $321,000
36 Livan Hernandez MON $6,000,000
37 Kerry Wood CHC $8,000,000
38 Andy Pettitte HOU $5,500,000
39 Horacio Ramirez ATL $330,000
40 Carl Pavano FLA $3,800,000
41 Carlos Silva MIN $340,000
42 Roy Oswalt HOU $3,250,000
43 Odalis Perez LA $5,000,000
44 Pedro Martinez BOS $17,500,000

To be fair he ended the season ranked 13th, a fast improvement but not the stuff of a 14 million dollar pitcher. The Sox do owe Pedro some respect and the right to finish his career in Boston, but since Pedro was ridiculously over paid for the past two years he owes Boston the right to sign what ever contract Theo and the Red Sox put in front of him. If the MLB was the mafia Pedro would have had his kneecaps broken for failing to pitch anywhere near like the highest paid pitcher is baseball? Think about it.