During today’s press conference in Philadelphia, Pedro Martinez said that he wanted to remain with the Mets, but the club didn’t show any interest in him.
Martinez told reporters at Citizens Bank Park:
“I was hoping the Mets would make a move…and they didn’t, so I decided to wait. It wasn’t my decision to not be in New York. It was someone else’s.”
…I am very sentimental towards Martinez and at first, when Maine and Perez went down I thought the Mets should take a look at him, but in the end I felt that it was probably the right thing for them to move on despite the pitching problems the team has had…
…that said, I never thought he would end up with the Phillies and if he does get an opportunity to pitch at Citi Field, I am curious as to how well he would be received by the fans, given the uniform he would be wearing…
I’m sure Pedro will hear plenty of cheers – which is probably better than the boos he’d hear the first time he gave up 7 runs in 3 innings. Picking him up would be pointless – I’m glad the Mets stayed away. There’s no way he can give more than a AAA pitcher right now…unless he’s doing more coaching than pitching
Pedro for a million dollars or Redding and Hernandez for about 4 million dollars?
Hmmm….what’s the better choice? Pedro can not be any worse than those two scrubs and he would be worth less money. Again, Omar has no clue what he’s doing.
Good point.
At the start of the season, wasn’t Pedro looking for something around $5 mil guaranteed?
Correct on the $5M. But no sense in pointing that out to the ‘fire omar’ posse since they only process information that fits their own view of things.
Did Pedro offer himself for a million dollars back during the offseason? No, I think it was originally $8M and then closer to $6M. And Livan was pitching much better at the beginning of this season than Pedro did last season.
So Omar did the right thing with the options available to him at the time. And he certainly had an opportunity to pick him up now if he wished, but chose not to. The only reason this may sting is that Pedro is with the Phillies. If he signed with the Rockies or Brewers, nobody would have cared.
that $1M is prorated, slugger. gotta figure it would have been a $3M+ incentive laden contract at the beginning of the season. everyone said his asking price was more like $4M. this is without mentioning that there is no way Pedro gives us 5 wins as Hernandez has.
PEDRO suffers from the one thing that all baseball players suffer from, GREED!!! If he wanted to play for the METS so bad, why did he ask for so much? I would have given him the million and had him as an insurance pitcher. We will see if Omar did the right thing or not.
Pedro was a bust, never won one big playoff game, and cost us the Clay Bucholtz pick… terrible move.. I have no problems with him moving on.
He will not pitch well for the phils
I enjoyed having Pedro on the Mets like all fans should enjoy any chance to watch the greats play for your team day-to-day. I loved having Glavine here, I loved having Henderson here, Eddie Murray, etc. goes without saying that you prefer them in their prome like Piazza or Carter or Gooden or Beltran or Santana, etc, but you really appreciate seeing these guys up close.
The moments were fleeting with Pedro but anyone who doesn’t think that in 2005 and early 2006 they were seeing a great pitcher working his craft, sorry you missed it. I would hope, and assume he gets a nice reception at Citi should he ever make an appearance.
All that said, this reeks of Glavine with Atlanta this year, Seaver with the 87 Mets, etc. As in, getting the contract was the easy part. I don’t see him navigating rehab assignments and minor league auditions both healthy and effective. I would put 50/50 odds on him ever throwing a pitch for the Phillies.
Glavine was a bust!! All he talked about was Atlantan and Bobby Cox and how much he missed it down there, then, when he pitched against the Braves he gives up 10 runs in 3 innings? The rotation had to be changed so he would NOT face them! He will forever be tied to the game 162 loss against the Marlins that knocked us off in 2007. He gives up 7 runs without getting an out, then, runs back to Atlanta and never addresses the media or fans, what a coward. I was so excited during the winter when we got him from the Braves, but, that wore off fast. I still think PEDRO brought us more than Glavine did.
Even strategically they should have signed him to keep him off the Phillies…1 mil? Are you kidding me? We can’t come up with that?
$1.5M just to prevent a past-his-prime starting pitcher from going to another team? that seems quite silly.
Even more silly when you consider Pedro gave up 19 HRs in 109 IP for the Mets last year.
Pedro + CBP = LOL
I guess you’re not buying into the “I’m rested, I’m healthy, and I’m going to pitch like it’s 1999″ rhetoric that Pedro is selling (and that the Phils have apparently bought).
Maybe his elbow and his shoulder and his toe and his knee and his ankle are all better now. No? OK.
Pedro said the exact same thing when he was rehabbing in 2007 too.
No offense meant, but a team wouldn’t sign the equivalent of a seventh starter to keep him away from another organization. We’d have to sign every Paul Byrd, Freddy Garcia, Kris Benson, etc. if so. (Oh, and we’d have to let them play, too.)
If mgmt felt that he would help the Mets, they would’ve signed him. But the truth is, esp. right now, he would be a terrible fit for this ballclub. He needs a team that will score lots of runs and has a deep bullpen. We can’t risk throwing a potential 5-inning, 4-run Pedro out there every fifth day.
The Phillies chose to take a flyer on him, because (1) they’re in first place and they can risk it right now, (2) he’s cheap, and (3) if he bombs, they can still bring up a minor-leaguer after the trade deadline to replace him. Oh, and (4) they have the offense to stay in a game if they’ve allowed 4 runs in the first 5 innings.
Sorry Pedro you greedy b@stard I have no love for you. I hope we completely kick your @ss and you embarrass yourself in Philly. After you robbed the Mets of $52 million and didnt live up to even half of it the least you could have done was play for us this season for an incentive laden deal instead of demanding $5-6 million from the start. I HOPE YOU FAIL!
These are words, they are easy to say, and Pedro is a diplomat. If he really loved the Mets he’d understand the situation and go to another team that showed interest — there had to be another team that would give him that money… and it should not be about the money if he really felt this way, right?
Look, I like Pedro but this was the wrong move. He can say what he wants — he signed with the team ahead of the Mets, that constantly berates the Mets, and is currently 6.5 games up on the Mets.
i said ahead of the mets twice, but there are other things they are :)
ya that other thing they are is a World Series contender, why would Pedro ever want to pitch there?
What does Pedro owe the Mets? Give me a break, like he should have turned down a chance to pitch for the Phillies on the Mets behalf? We are talking about human beings getting paid huge sums of money to entertain by playing a game, right?
You give me a break. The Mets paid him $53mil and he gave them nothing. He is spitting in our faces for just $1mil that he could have gotten elsewhere. I understand your point, he can play anywhere he wants, and that’s my point — he could have gone anywhere. He went the one place the Mets didn’t want to see him go, and then says he loves the Mets and fans. I’m just saying these are words, his actions speak volumes. Like you said, he is doing it for the money, and Met fans should not have the love for him they are giving after the presser. Just words.
I agree for the most part razor, but then again I have to admit I like that Pedro signed with the Phils and just talked about how much he would rather have been a Met… I am still glad the Mets didn’t bring him back on the team and still glad the Mets signed him 4 years ago. I hope he does just well enough to lose every game for the Phils, but thats nothing personal against Pedro.
I have no problem with Pedro going to Phillies.
Perhaps he will do a Glavine and make them lose when it counts. ( I still think Glavine did that on purposes as a double agent for the Braves).
I think Pedro will get a Piazza-esque ovation if and when he pitches at Citifield.
I am upset that I wont be at or see the game since I will be on vacation deep in the wilderness during those games.
I said, the day they signed Glavine, that in a huge situation, he was going to give up an even huger home run (I actually said it would be to Sheff, how ironic), rip off his Mets jersey, and be wearing a Braves t-shirt underneath, flip us all off, and strut off Shea Stadium’s infield like a jerk! Not too far off!
Well, even so, it wasn’t like he was devastated or anything. Disappointed, maybe.
Trachsel had a more productive Mets career than Glavine, at a fraction of the cost.
Tom Glavine, NY Mets:
5 seasons, 2 All-Star Appearances
61-56, 3.97 ERA Regular Season
2-1, 1.80 ERA Postseason
What should be his Mets legacy? Stepping up in 2006 as the team’s ACE through 2 rounds of postseason, alost carrying a rotation of Maine, Perez, and see below into the WS.
Steve Trachsel, NY Mets:
66-59, 4.02 ERA Regular Season
0-1, 14.54 ERA Postseason
What should be his Mets legacy? Completely abandoning his team in Sept. 2006 and then having a virtual breakdown in each of two playoff starts because his wife was made at him.
So you make a fair comparison on regular season numbers…they are almost identical. But I would say the full picture favors Glavine.
hmmm…..I have to admit. I was a Glavine hater because I thought he didnt give his best in that last game and i didnt like his comments after the game. But your arguement really may have changed my mind.
good stuff dave
ya nice comment dave. I was at game 2 o the NLDS and game 1 of the NLCS, two of the best Mets games I’ve ever been to, certainly some of the best in Mets history, and Glavine was a shut down ace in both of them. It’s tough to get over 2007, but it’s also impossible to forget how great he was in 06.
I’m sure no one’s reading at this point, but….
I think what I was trying to say was Trachsel overperformed for us (relative to what he was) and Glavine underperformed. Given the $$$ spent, I would say Trachsel was a good business transaction, Glavine much less so. I don’t think the Mets paid Glavine $48 million+ over 5 years in hopes of a 4.00 ERA.
Dave, I would argue that Glavine’s legacy was NOT two good ’06 postseason games. It was coming here to be an ace or a #2, giving us Trachselian results instead, letting us down in several consecutive September ’07 starts, then uttering his infamous “not devastated” farewell address before going back to Atlanta.
I realize the above was a bit unreasonable/manic, relative to my other posts. Sorry about that—I just needed to beat on Glavine a little. [laughing]
Glavine won me over in the 2006 season overall (not just the post season, but that season I finished thinking Glavine was a MET. But his implosion in game 162 and what happened in that off season nixed any chance of any positive feelings for the rat that I could have had.
How exactly did the Braves benefit from Glavine’s final start in 2007?
I will say this for Yankees fans…their team goes out and gets virtually every great player in the game at some point in their career, and no matter where they’ve been before, they embrace them and enjoy it. I don’t remember whiny Yankees fans making half-serious accusations that Wade Boggs or Roger Clemens or Johnny Damon were ‘double agents’ there to sabotage the Yankees.
Some of us enjoyed seeing Glavine on our side for 5 years. Some of us enjoyed Pedro. Most of us realized Glavine just didn’t have it that day.
I agree dave, Glavine just didn’t have it that day and for the most part I think he pitched well enough once Peterson finally got it through his head that at his age he needed to pitch inside more. I respect Glavine for the class act he has always been. Actually if he would have signed I think it would be very interesting to see what Glavine could accomplish in the confines of Citifield.
There were a ton of Yankee fans who felt that way about Boggs, I think Yankee fans were too excited by the way that Sox fans felt about Clemens not being on the team to have a hard time routing for him in their own uni.
The problem with Glavine for the Mets is that you almost got the feeling that Braves fans were laughing at us overpaying Glavine and losing while he still obviously wanted the Braves.
Pedro on the other hand is a different ball of wax, I am a pedro fan and will chear for him when he takes the mound against us if that happens, then boo him the rest of the game as I would any Phillie…
I’m not a Pedro hater, but I’d never sign the guy. The Mets need to create a youth movement of sorts (and if we’re down and out by Trade Deadline, we should go that way). Pedro would give us a couple average starts and then get hurt.
As for his reception, I’ve often debated Pedro’s legacy with the Mets. I think he made the Mets relevant. His first season with the Mets, he took no-no’s deep (I know that close doesn’t count) but he was a reason to watch the Mets. But unfortunately, 2006, he got hurt too much, especially when it counted (playoffs.)
I know Glavine’s legacy with the Mets is that last game against Florida — I haven[t forgiven him — but he was more relevant in 2006 than Pedro was. He pitched the playoffs (and did so well.) I’m not as angry with Pedro as some on this site (I understand why) but his reception shouldn’t be Piazza like. I’d say calmed appreciation.
I agree with you KD about both points.
Pedro deserves to be cheered when he comes here. Say what you want about getting hurt but gave his all when he was out there. I am little annoyed he signed with the Phillies but quite frankly, he probably didnt have many alternatives (competitive teams). I think the Mets could have had him for 4 million before the season started maybe even 3 million with incentives. They thought it wasnt worth it.
As far as Glavine. I too have been hating on him but Dave27′s post above was great in pointing out what Glavine did for us. Glavine was terrible in the last game but he wasnt the reason we choked.
If and when Pedro comes to Citu he’ll get a big round of applause. He brought life back to the Mets and its hard to put a price tag on that. I hate seeing him on the Phils but its not like he spurned the Mets, so I have no problem with him going to Philly.
Matter of fact, I will root for him if Mets aren’t contending.
As for Glavine, he was a class player who always seems just a little bit disappointed he was pitching for the Mets. So, I have little to no emotion about him.
Pedro embraced NY, and he deserves our appreciation.