Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 30, 2004
Mets Make a Deal?

It seems the Mets, not the Yankees are the team that's bidding up Boston for Pedro's services.


The Red Sox reportedly have offered Martinez a two-year, $25.5 million contract with a vesting option for 2007 that would kick in if the right-hander remains healthy. The Mets countered late Sunday with a three-year guaranteed contract worth approximately $38 million with a vesting option for a fourth year that could make package worth $50 million.

Perhaps waiting on an offer from the Yankees, the free-agent ace isn't close to making a decision on where to sign, a person close to Martinez said Tuesday on condition of anonymity.


If you're spend a lot of money on a free agent, it might as well be on the best. While Martinez would not make the Mets winners by himself, he'd do a lot of good for the team from Queens. He'd sell out the place every time he pitched. He'd get the press talking about the Mets again. And he'd be very good in Shea, a park that has been very kind to strikeout pitchers in its history. And he would make the Mets more competitive. If he can put the team 15 to 20 games over .500 in his starts, playing .500 the rest of the way puts NY in playoff contention. It doesn't take much good luck from that point to put a team over the top.

A healthy Pedro and Piazza can go a long way. Let's see if Omar can pull it off, and then let's see if he can put enough decent players around them to win.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:28 PM | Free Agents
Comments

My guess is Pedro's trying to drive up his price in Boston. I think he'd be crazy to go there and they'd be crazy to sign him for what looks essentially like 4 guaranteed but as soon as you here respect you know it's all about money. The Mets were 20 below .500 last year, have a crappy lineup and weak bullpen. To be competitive they need to sign Leiter or equivalent along with some bullpen help and then they still have a really weak lineup. My guess is Pedro's not going to be too happy playing for a below .500 team and being out of the limelight. But I'm sure it's all about the cash.

Posted by: Jack Tanner at December 1, 2004 09:12 AM

It will be interesting to see if the Mets can turn around their bad record lately in obtaining players. Mo Vaughn made $17 million last season without even playing. Roberto Alomar became an ordinary ballplayer and now is not even a lock for 3000 hits when he could have had 3000 already. Tom Glavine is 20-28 in two seasons with the Mets and may have lost a chance at 300 wins by leaving Braves. With a good chance of losing Al Leiter to another team that makes it even more imperative to sign Pedro Martinez but reportedly Martinez will not sign with anyone for awhile and I have a feeling George Steinbrenner will top any other offers if he doesn't get Randy Johnson and may even sign both of them since he doesn't seem to be worried about luxury taxes and other penalites imposed on team for such a high payroll.

Posted by: Andrew Godfrey at December 1, 2004 09:38 AM