This comparison, vis-a-vis the subject of this thread, does Pedroia a massive disservice. They both may care equally about their legacies, but Jeter did so in ways that insisted on himself over his team whereas Pedroia has done the opposite. Jeter, to my knowledge, never took a discount to play with the Yankees. As of this point in time, there is exactly one player in the history of baseball to have made more money playing the game than Jeter has. Jeter never sacrificed for his team. In fact, he refused to discuss moving off of short when the team acquired a player who was a clearly superior defensive player at the position in A-Rod.
Pedroia has taken a massive discount to play in Boston. And, I don't think Cherrington gets most of the credit for this. This is a theme with Pedroia at this point and I think we can safely assume that he was aware, at the time of his signing, how much of a discount he was taken because one has to assume that his agent, at the very least, politely pointed it out to him. I also think that if you put Pedroia in Jeter's shoes with an A-Rod type scenario, Pedroia would be immediately calling his manager to let him know that he was sure that he was the best 2B in the world but that he could also be the best at any other position, so if the team would be better off with him as a 3B, or a LF, or a C, he's fine with that.
Pedroia is every fans dream player. He plays the game at max effort every minute of every game. He prefers winning to money. He is a consummate team player. And, he is really good. The only one of these statements I feel anyone here can make with certainty about Jeter is the latter (with a tense change). Sure, he played his whole career with one team. But, that was because they paid him fair market value or above at every step of the way. This post is not a criticism of Jeter. This post is only intended to point out how truly exceptional Pedroia is. (Longoria is the only player I can think of who can aptly be compared to Pedroia in respect to systematically choosing legacy over money.)
This is all very well said and I couldn't agree more.