Pedro Martinez a Phillie?
MetsBlog posted a link to the latino publication Candela Deportivo, which states that the Phillies have made an offer to, or signed, Pedro Martinez.
If true, it’s not surprising — not when the Phillies are sending the likes of Rodrigo Lopez to the mound. Assuming he’s healthy, Pedro can give the Phils 5-6 competitive innings every five days, and can probably win at least half of them (see: Jamie Moyer).
I shudder to think what a Pedro vs. Mets game might look like. You know he’d turn it up a notch.
Personally, I love watching Pedro, even as an aging, mediocre pitcher. Likely, he wouldn’t have made much of a difference to the Mets’ 2009 season, but he would have at least given me more reason to pay attention to the games in which he pitched. I’d pay to see a broken-down Pedro before I’d pay to see Tim Redding, for example.
About the Author
A Mets fan since birth, Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Oh, and he's often a bit cranky.
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Pedro’s got crazy talent. If he can pitch without pain he’ll still be good. I think he can be better than just league average. He can pitch to 3.70 ERA or thereabouts. Of course he hasn’t been able to stay healthy or pitch pain free in a long time so I wouldn’t bet on him doing it now.
Let’s also not forget he’d be pitching his home games at CBP, which is something especially to pay attention to considering he gave up 19 longballs in just 109 innings playing his home games at Shea in 2008. There’s no doubt Pedro is one of history’s greatest pitchers, but his best days are far behind him. And I question out loud whether Pedro would be having any better season than Livan Hernandez if the Mets had opted to give him the #5 spot instead of Livan. In addition, with the rumors of the Phillies being a favorite to land Roy Halladay, I’ll openly root for the Phils to sign Pedro if it hinders their chances of trading for Halladay, even if Pedro goes 10-0. Still, with Carlos Carrasco and Kyle Drabek waiting in the wings, and Rodrigo Lopez holding his own, I really gotta wonder why the Phillies, of all teams, are so enamored with Pedro. In my opinion it’s a pickup that has a greater chance of making them worse than better.