Pedroia

The Red Sox have locked up their sparkplug, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, to a six-year deal reportedly valued at $40.5 million, with a club option that could allow the team to keep the reigning American League MVP for a seventh year.

“I play for the best team in the major leagues,” Pedroia said yesterday when the deal was announced. “Who wouldn’t want to play for the Boston Red Sox? We’re going to have an opportunity to win every single year. The fans are the best. The city embraces their team. So, why not? It fits.”

Pedroia, who made $457,000 in 2008, will earn a $1.5 million base salary in 2009, along with a $1.5-million signing bonus. He will earn $3.5 million in 2010 and $5.5 million in 2011, the two years when he would have been eligible for arbitration. His salary jumps to $8 million in 2012, and to $10 million in both 2013 and 2014. The Red Sox can pick up his salary in 2015 for $11 million, or buy him out for $500,000.

The contract includes incentives in the event Pedroia wins further MVP, batting title, and Gold Glove awards.

“He’s kind of everything you look for: he’s a leader in the clubhouse, I think he’s a leader on the field, in the way he approaches the game, and he’s really talented, and helps us win, every night,” said general manager Theo Epstein.

“He’s huge for us. I don’t think we’d be the Red Sox right now without Dustin Pedroia,” Epstein said.

The Red Sox will keep Pedroia at a deep discount, considering that he would have made significant dollars during his two arbitration-eligible years — and the money he would likely have earned in free agency.

In the arbitration process, a third party listens to arguments from the player and from the team and then determines a salary for the player. Pedroia was not arbitration eligible this winter, but would have been due a hefty pay raise in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

He would likely have earned even more money in free agency, in 2013 and 2014. By comparison, Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, who first saw significant time in 2004, signed a seven-year, $85-million deal in 2007.

Pedroia is not naïve, and said he knew that he was leaving money on the table by signing this deal now.

“I understood all that stuff. I know if I had gone year-to-year, I probably would have made a lot more money. I understand that. Without a doubt,” Pedroia said.

“But I’m here in a place that I love, my family loves it, they treat us unbelievable — it’s like a family here. I’m happy with this,” Pedroia said.

dbarbari@projo.com