Mets would have nothing to lose by signing Pedro
Starting pitcher Pedro Martinez #45 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in Game Six of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium. (Nov. 4, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
Just as they have let the Mets into the NL East race with their play on the field, the Phillies Wednesday opened the door for Omar Minaya to take something else that belonged to them in 2009:
After a report surfaced that the Phillies were planning a reunion with Martinez, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told AOL Fanhouse that he had "zero" going on with the future Hall of Famer.
That doesn't mean that the Phillies won't sign Martinez at a later date. They picked him up on July 14 last year; he went 5-1 during the regular season in nine starts and 0-2 with a respectable 3.71 ERA in three postseason outings.
But the Phillies aren't the only contender out there in need of a starting pitcher. The Mets are, too.
That's right: We're granting the Mets "contender" status. Actually, they have done that themselves. When you go into June 16 one-half game out of first place, you are a contender. You owe it to your fans to do everything within reason to get into the playoffs.
Can Martinez help the Mets? Well, he's 38 now, but there's no reason to believe he wouldn't be at least as good as Kevin Millwood or Jake Westbrook or any of the other back-of-the-rotation guys the Mets may target in a trade.
Those pitchers will cost a (probably marginal) prospect or two and money. Martinez would cost only money - and much of it would be recouped by the increased attendance the Mets would surely see at Martinez's Citi Field starts, which once again would become events.
Martinez faced the Yankees in the World Series twice last year and lost both starts, including the clinching Game 6. But he did pitch seven shutout innings against the Dodgers in the NLCS. And the Mets won't be facing American League lineups by the time Martinez is ready (last season his first big-league start came on Aug. 12).
"He pitched well for Philly last year," Derek Jeter said last night when asked if he thought Martinez could still help a team. "He won a lot of games for them when he got there and then he pitched well in the World Series. You don't just put him out there just to put him out there. Obviously, he was still pitching well."
Now, maybe the Mets are going to aim higher and reach for a top-of-the-rotation pitcher such as Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt or Ben Sheets. A baseball source with knowledge of the team's thinking suggested just that Wednesday - that the Mets aren't interested in a Martinez reunion because they are focused on landing a big-time starter to go with Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey.
But the beauty of a Martinez signing would be the Mets still could go after the bigger fish.
And it would show Mets fans - who really, really want to believe in this team - that the front office is going to try to sprint through the door the Phillies have generously left open.
