Thursday, June 18, 2009

Who's your daddy! Will the Yankees vote for Pedro Martinez?

Think Joba Chamberlain and Jorge Posada bicker a lot during a game? Imagine what it will be like if Posada is catching for Pedro Martinez!

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal (thanks to Squawker reader NAM for first telling us about this story), the Yankees are one of four teams who will watch Martinez throw Friday in the Dominican Republic. The other teams are the Cubs, Rays, and Angels.

Pedro is looking for a $3 million (!) major league contract for the rest of the season. Good luck with that, dude.

However, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility for him to wear the pinstripes. Remember, the Yanks actually talked a bit with Martinez and his agent Fernando Cuza after the 2004 season, and Alex Rodriguez took Martinez to dinner to talk to him about signing for the Yankees. But reportedly the Yankees didn't heavily pursue Martinez due to the objections of some of the Bomber old guard, most notably Jorge Posada. Jorge held a grudge against Martinez because of their argument in the 2003 ALCS.

And time has not healed these wounds. Last fall, Posada criticized Martinez on Michael Kay's show "Center Stage":
"I thought he was going to hit me in the head with a bat after we had the fight and he pushed Don Zimmer," Posada said. "It was ridiculous. I mean, he throws at Karim Garcia because he's losing the game. I mean, there's no class."
True, but six years later, I still don't understand how Martinez escaped that without any Yankee laying a finger on him. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

At any rate, Pedro had an angry response last September to Posada's more recent comments:
"When I pointed to the head, it wasn't precisely to tell him that I wanted to hit him in the head," Martinez said. "Nah. He's a human being, he has a family, and I'm a professional. [The pointing to the head] was because he cursed my mom. I was telling him, 'I'll remember that.'

"He knows - he's Latin, as much as he pretends to be American, he's Latin - that cursing your mom in Latin America will get you into a fight," Martinez said. "That's something I would never do to his mom, because she doesn't play. She's not on the field. She's someone you admire and respect, and I didn't like that."
Oh snap! This feud is so on!

While it would give the media - and this blog - a lot to write about if Martinez became a Yankee, (and make Uncle Mike's head explode!) I just don't see what Pedro's spot would be on the team:

The aging, injury-prone pitcher role is already filled by Andy Pettitte.

And forget about Martinez as a reliever - batters hit best against him in the first inning, according to Baseball-Reference.com

As for class clown, while Martinez has a self-deprecating sense of humor, like when he allowed Nomar Garciaparra and his Boston teammates to tape him to the dugout pole, I think between Nick Swisher, A.J. Burnett and Johnny Damon, they have got the cutup position filled.

Team spokeman? Martinez is one of the smartest and most well-spoken players in baseball, but for some strange reason, I don't think he would be accepted as mouthpiece of a team he once called his daddy.

So, would the Yankees vote for Pedro? It's doubtful. Other than a misguided attempt to stick it to the Mets and the Red Sox, the only possible position I see for Pedro on the Yankees is as designated headhunter for the next Boston series!

Do you think the Yankees could - or should - sign Pedro Martinez? Leave us a comment?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to see Pedro play for the Yankees. He's an awesome pitcher and deserves a shot. You got to let the past stay in the past. I know Pedro wants to play baseball and why not sign him if he can help the Yankees in the bull pen.

BklynSoxFan said...

If Pedro plays this season, I would bet on the Cubs, as staying in the NL, and out of the AL East makes the most sense.

Traveling Baseball Babes said...

Um...no Pedro. Other than the fact that he is a complete jerk, I am supporting the "what have you done for me lately" attitude in this situation. What the hell has he done lately?

Alvaro Fernandez Ravelo said...

I've always wondered about Pedro Martinez doing a revamp on his career a la Dennis Eckersley. He might have an awful first inning as an starter but entering as a reliever is another mind set. I think he can do it, but not with the Yankees!

Anonymous said...

As a Red Sox fan I hope the Yankees sign Pedro. If they do sign Pedro, we can add that to the list of dumb moves the Yanks have made since 2000. It's like the 80's all over again, I love it.

greg said...

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO....PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR PEDRO!!!

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