Will Pedro pitch this year?

[wwharton]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

If he took it back to where he started, it would be LA. That was where his career began.

Ah ha, didn't know that... so he can take it back to where his fame started (and where HE actually started... games). I need a reason to head out to National Park at least once this year. Dunn's not doing it for me.

[twiztiddarkangelman]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

I'm pretty sure some team will pick him up.

[Marino]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

Ah ha, didn't know that... so he can take it back to where his fame started (and where HE actually started... games). I need a reason to head out to National Park at least once this year. Dunn's not doing it for me.

Haha, yeah stupid us for trading him to the Expos, the people inside thought he was going to be nothing, man were they wrong.

[wwharton]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

Haha, yeah stupid us for trading him to the Expos, the people inside thought he was going to be nothing, man were they wrong.

We traded Schilling AND Finley AND Harnish for Glen Davis. O's win.

[KOL]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

I hope he doesn't wind up in........ Pittsburgh ugh!

[rsox]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

I hope he doesn't wind up in........ Pittsburgh ugh!

He won't sign with Pittsburgh, they already tried and he turned them down.
Pedro is at the end of the line and wants to play for a contender. If not the Mets or Dodgers i would not rule out the A's as a possibility. They need a veteran presence in their rotation and Beane still has money to spend. One other possible long shot could be the St.Louis Cardinals. We know the Cardinals will be right in the thick of things in the NL, we know they will score a ton of runs and nobody gets more out of less than Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan. Perhaps LaRussa/Duncan could work their magic and get one more great year out of Pedro.

[KOL]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

He won't sign with Pittsburgh, they already tried and he turned them down.
Pedro is at the end of the line and wants to play for a contender. If not the Mets or Dodgers i would not rule out the A's as a possibility. They need a veteran presence in their rotation and Beane still has money to spend. One other possible long shot could be the St.Louis Cardinals. We know the Cardinals will be right in the thick of things in the NL, we know they will score a ton of runs and nobody gets more out of less than Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan. Perhaps LaRussa/Duncan could work their magic and get one more great year out of Pedro.

The Cards may be a great fit for Pedro. Thank god he turned down Pitt.

[twiztiddarkangelman]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

I hear that Pedro is looking for a 2 year deal no way he gets that I don't believe.

[rsox]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

I hear that Pedro is looking for a 2 year deal no way he gets that I don't believe.

Yeah it is pretty doubtful that he will get anything more than a 1 year deal. At most maybe 1 year with an option.

[ComfortablyLomb]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

Pedro would be smart to take a page from the Roger Clemens playbook and only pitch the second half this year and any future years he keeps playing. He has something left to give but there's next to no chance of him ever getting through a full season in one piece.

[JBH3]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

W/ Cole Hamels' elbow flaring up, I'd welcome Pedro in a heartbeat as a 5th starter who can alternate w/ Park for long relief duties.

[DTX3]

Re: Will Pedro pitch this year?

PHOENIX -- Before one of the Dominican Republic's recent World Baseball Classic games, Pedro Martinez told Tom Lasorda and scouting advisor Ralph Avila he wanted to finish his career where it started, with the Dodgers.

"That's what he said," said Lasorda, Martinez's former manager. "I don't know, it was just conversation."

The longer the Dodgers go without a clear-cut No. 5 starter, the more conversation about Martinez occurs.

Manny Ramirez said he called Martinez on Sunday morning after hearing media reports that Martinez might be coming to the Dodgers.

"He said he has two options," said Ramirez. "I don't know what he's going to do. He has to do what's best for him."

The two options most often speculated are the Dodgers, his original team, and the Mets, his most recent team. The Mets have said they won't sign him. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti left the door open slightly when he said "a lot of things would have to fall into place."

Foremost, presumably, is the pitcher's asking price, which is more along the lines of a Cy Young winner (which he was, three times) than a fifth starter (which he would be for the Dodgers).

Martinez, who has earned $146 million in his career, reportedly wants a contract similar to the one another former Cy Young winner, John Smoltz, received from Boston -- $5.5 million guaranteed with nearly another $5 million if he stays healthy.

The Dodgers are believed willing to pay Martinez more along the lines of a fifth starter, with a modest guarantee plus incentives. They are concerned about his three years of health problems. They've seen in the Classic games that Martinez has added a slurve to his repertoire of pitches and he has command around the plate, but his fastball only occasionally sneaks past 90 mph.

It was good enough against The Netherlands. How it plays at age 37 in the National League is the question, especially after he went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA with the Mets last year.

Even Pedro's older brother, Ramon, isn't sure where he'll land. Ramon started working with the Dodgers' Minor League pitchers Tuesday.

"He said he would like to come back," said Ramon, a former 20-game winner for the Dodgers. "He would be very good with the young pitchers."

The Dodgers are counting on so many young pitchers this year -- Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo and Cory Wade -- that they would prefer the fifth starter have a few more lines of service time on the back of his baseball card.

So far, though, the Dodgers aren't much closer to finding a fifth starter from the in-house candidates than they were when camp opened, as manager Joe Torre conceded Tuesday. Other than three scoreless innings from Eric Stults in a Saturday "B" game, a flurry of recent outings really hasn't narrowed the field of contenders because nobody has pitched well enough to take the job.

"It's not crunch time yet," Torre said. "We still have a lot of bodies here, and we're trying to find out roles. There's a lot of guys sensing decisions have to be made."

Torre declined to even name the candidates, although from what he's said in the past, they are: lukewarm favorite Eric Milton, Claudio Vargas, Shawn Estes and Stults.

Torre said he's most familiar with Milton, who was a Yankees Minor Leaguer under Torre and has the experience.

"I have firsthand knowledge about his makeup," Torre said. "You want somebody you feel keeps his wits about him. I don't think Eric is the kind of pitcher who beats himself and gets overwhelmed by the situation."

Jason Schmidt won't be ready by the start of the season for a starter's job, Torre said, and he needs too much time to loosen up to be considered for a bullpen job. Jeff Weaver is now considered only for relief.

Rookie James McDonald, once considered likely for a relief job and possibly a starter, now is in jeopardy of not even making the club. He's been slow to make in-game adjustments when he struggles this spring, and the thinking is that McDonald needs to pitch regularly to improve. The erratic usage of a middle reliever might hinder his advancement. He allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings Tuesday and has a 7.71 ERA.

"Do we question his ability? No," Torre said of McDonald before Tuesday's game. "We have to question, is he going to get enough work to have him make sense? We think highly of him, and he showed in the postseason he can handle the heat."

Bring him home, Ned.