Pedro’s goin Fishing
“What he’s looking for is a chance to win,” Cuza said. The Indians, Pirates and Mets, who have long had interest in Pedro Martinez, have been joined by the Dodgers. And according to Martinez’s agent Fern Cuza, a couple more additional teams have recently entered the mix.
Actually Fern Cuza seems to have graduated from the Boras College of negotiating knowledge, as he’s borrowed the same blueprint that Boras has been using for just about all of his top free agent clients, Manny Ramirez to be specific.
“Pedro feels better than his first year with the Mets,” Cuza said. The agent declined to name or confirm any of the interested teams of course but baseball executives say Los Angeles, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and the Mets all have some level of interest.
I also think Pedro’s deal will end up similiar to Manny’s, not in the amount of dough he secures, but at the end of the day he probably will sign for some sort of incentive laden contract. Somehow I don’t think Pedro’s retort that he’ll spend his summer on a fishing boat if he can’t get the money he thinks he’s worth will play out.
Pedro is a first ballot Hall of Fame candidate, who does bring a certain aura to a pitching staff, especially if he’s going good, and his recent cameo for the Dominican Team must have wet the appetite of a few GM’s, but there is that dreaded economy sinkhole that every business CEO or baseball GM is spouting these days, and the low risk high reward deal is most likely El Pollo’s future.
By now we all know Pedro’s history with the Mets so we’ll let that horse roam peacefully in the pasture and not beat it to death, but I think he owes it to the Mets to come back to NY for at least a Smoltz type contract $5.5M in bonuses based on days on active 25-man roster. At the beginning of the winter I thought he would at least be looking for Randy Johnson type money, 1 year/$8M (2009) $2.5M in performance bonuses, $2.5M in award bonuses, but the sorry economy filibuster by the suits has put an end to my thinking in that regard.
Right now it seems GM’s and Pedro have a gap between the numbers each side is throwing around although his performance in the WBC has expanded team’s interest. Personally I would tread lightly based on his performance against the Netherlands, not excatly the Cubs, Dodgers or Phils he’s facing there.
If I’m a GM it would be a requirement for El Pollo to be pitching quality innings down the stretch, (something he hasn’t accomplished the last three years) and he would also need to eat quality innings during the Long season if he wants to command the type of money he’s fishing for. He may feel great in March, but will all the ailments he’s toted around with him over the last three years rear their ugly head again in 09. I’m not saying he has to match his 2005 digits of 15-8, 217 innings, but I think he’d have to guarantee he can provide at least the 132 innings he gobbled up in 2006, or more, 150 would be more like it, and hopefully with a better end result then his WL record (9-8), to his credit he did pitch to a 1.108 WHIP.
I think the Mets are his best fit, he has allies in that organization with GM Omar Minaya and pitching guru Guy Conti leading the pack. He should lower his demands, and don the blue and orange this year, he owes it to his old team, after all they did carry him for 3 years at over $13 million a year. But right now Livan Hernandez seems to be the front runner for the Met number 5 spot in their rotation, and fans aren’t going to hit the bricks with picket signs like they would have in LA if Manny didn’t ink his deal with the Dodgers. That puts a damper on Fern Cuza’s options for hammering out a Pedro friendly deal in Flushing
El Pollo would certainly be an upgrade in the eyes of Met fans, but Hernadez is the type of low risk plow horse Minaya’s bosses seem to want to run out there. So unless your ready to lower the demands Petey, you better stock up on sunblock and fill the cooler with some choice bait, because your goin fishin
