BOSTON -- The story has become something of a legend around baseball circles at Arizona State.

Dustin Pedroia, long before he was anything close to a glint in the collective eyes of Red Sox Nation, happily surrendered his full baseball scholarship at ASU in order to free up funds for the Sun Devils to pick up a highly touted pitcher that couldn’t afford the high rate of tuition.

It was the first clear instance of Pedroia the competitor and Pedroia the teammate trumping Pedroia the businessman in a tag team effort, and that trend continued yesterday afternoon when the Sox announced that their second baseman agreed to a six-year, $40.5 million contract extension.

“My first thought about the whole thing was I play for the best team in the major leagues,” Pedroia said. “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.

“I know that if I would have gone year to year, yes, I would probably 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. I'm extremely excited, my wife's excited, my parents, they're ecstatic. . . . I want to be here. I want to play for the Red Sox and I don't want to play for anybody else. So it just seemed right to do something.”

The reigning American League MVP most assuredly left money on the table at the back end of the deal and the Sox hold an $11 million option for the 2015 season that could push the pact to seven years in length.

Interestingly enough, Sox General Manager Theo Epstein admitted that it’s “club policy” in long term deals with players of Pedroia’s service level that A) years of free agency must be bought out and  there must be a club option added to the pact.

The Scrappy Doo second baseman guaranteed himself Red Stockings for the foreseeable future by giving up at least two free agent years, and Epstein gets what some might call “a steal of a deal” for someone that’s already captured Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove Award and MVP honors in two glorious big league season.

“He's a leader in the clubhouse, I think he's a leader on the field with the way he approaches the game, and he's really talented and helps us win every night,” said Epstein. “If we had 25 guys like this we'd be in good shape. I don't think we'd be the Red Sox right now without Dustin Pedroia.”

While Pedroia is now locked up for a potential of seven years that would take him until the ripe old baseball age of 32 years-old, the Sox will turn their attention to the free agent market as well as potential extensions for pre-free agency players like Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester.

Expect that the Sox will target the left-handed starter that emerged this season rather than the bearded first baseman that’s due to make upwards of $6 million in arbitration and the closer that’s got to be considered something of a health risk in a four or five-year deal that would buy out some of his free agency years.

“It’s a goal of ours to sign certain players to long-term deals, but we’re not going to discuss when or who or where,” said Epstein. “Dustin isn’t the only player that we’re talking to this winter, but it’s significant that he’s signed and maybe we can create some momentum with this.” 

The one thing Pedroia can't do: Act. Sorry Pedey, but the acting skills in the Sullivan Tire commercials make Terry Francona look like some sort of classically-trained Shakespearean thespian. It's a good thing the Little Second Baseman that Could puts on a laser show at the ballpark every night.