Pedroia: Iglesias upset by Drew signing

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, in an appearance on WEEI's Red Sox Hot Stove show on Thursday night, said that shortstop Jose Iglesias "was upset" when the team reached an agreement with Stephen Drew to be its everyday shortstop in 2013.

The move -- which came days after Iglesias had joined Pedroia for four days of offseason workouts in Arizona -- almost certainly will relegate Iglesias to Triple-A at the start of 2013. However, Pedroia counseled the 22-year-old Iglesias, citing his own experience in 2006, when he was upset about returning to Triple-A with the Sox' acquisition of Mark Loretta.

"After [Iglesias] left [the workouts in Arizona], a couple days later, we signed Stephen. He was upset," said Pedroia. "But I basically told him, from my situation, I felt like I was ready in 2006 to start the season in Boston, play second base and go play. But we ended up signing Mark Loretta. It ended up being a great thing for me. I went to Triple-A, I played, I started out slow and struggled at the beginning and I overcame my start. I ended up having a great year. That helped me for the next year in 2007, when I really, really struggled, I’d been through it before. I’d been through tough times. I knew how to overcome tough times and how to do what to do to get me back on track."

(Pedroia was injured in spring training with a shoulder subluxation, then got off to a slow start in 2006, hitting .234/.333/.308/.642 through 29 games. Over the next 82 games leading up to a late-August call-up, however, Pedroia hit .329/.402/.465/.867 with 32 extra-base hits.)

As for Drew, Pedroia said that he's looking forward to playing with the 30-year-old shortstop, who he's viewed as an impact, game-changing player dating to college, when Drew and Pedroia were ranked among the top players in the country heading into the 2004 draft.  

"We’re glad to have him," Pedroia said of Drew. "When he’s healthy, he’s producing. He’s a very exciting player. I always remember playing against him in college. He used to hit a ton of triples. He runs the bases well, plays good defense, has a lot of pop in his bat. He’s going to help us out a ton."

To listen to the complete interview with Pedroia, click here. For complete Red Sox coverage, visit weei.com/redsox.