THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
The news coming out of Santo Domingo yesterday was only occasionally accurate and consistently confusing regarding the Phillies' interest in 37-year-old pitcher Pedro Martinez, which, quite naturally, didn't make the Dominican Republic media reports much different than our own.
It is Rumor Month in baseball. Believe what you will at your own risk. For the next three weeks, anything could happen, although the eventual fact is usually a lot less interesting than the anticipated fiction.
Take Martinez, for instance. Please.
Take him to some other team. Take him to the beach for ice cream. But do not take him as a substitute for the real starting pitcher the Phillies so desperately need.
If smoke does indeed turn out to be fire, the Phillies are, nevertheless, going to sign Martinez. They watched him throw three innings of a simulated game on Tuesday, with his fastball either getting up to 91 m.p.h. or 93 m.p.h., depending on the translation of your choice.
At one point yesterday afternoon, there was a report coming out of the Dominican that a $4 million deal had been signed for the rest of the season. That was just silly, particularly the part about the money, but not so silly that Ruben Amaro Jr. didn't find himself cornered in a clubhouse corridor to comment on it.
The Phillies' general manager said a couple of things, but mostly his comment was "no comment." That was his answer to questions about how long it would take a pitcher of Martinez's age and, uh, not-so-recent success, to be ready to go in the big leagues. And questions about how his arrival might affect the current starting rotation. And that kind of stuff.
He did say, on the record, out loud, firmly and with conviction that Martinez "has not been signed."
So, it will probably happen.
According to other conflicting reports, the Phils wanted to see Martinez throw again to judge how his arm recovers, but the Martinez camp was in a one-free-peek-only kind of mood. Last night, ESPN Deportes said the Phils would get their second look today, and then make a decision. Other media outlets said the team has settled on signing him and is merely dickering on price, and still another report had the pitcher's agent saying Martinez has "other options."
Certainly. Windsurfing, off-road racing and miniature golf.
Of all the varied news items that floated about yesterday like decoration from a birthday party bubble machine, there wasn't a single one that indicated any other team had interest in a fragile guy who had a 5.61 earned run average last season and has thrown just 137 innings since the end of the 2006 season.
No, it appears the Phillies have cornered the genius market on this one, and this would be a fine time to cut their losses, keep their money and set their sights a little higher than a washed-up Pedro Martinez.
Manager Charlie Manuel has consistently said, when asked about a possible pitching addition, "Don't get me what I already got." In other words, if there isn't going to be a major improvement, then reach down into the minors and bring back Andrew Carpenter, whose 8-2 record and 2.85 ERA have earned him another look.
But the Phillies are worried about their rotation - with some reason - and they are looking at all options. You can't blame them, but it does make you wonder. If they're spending all this time and effort on Pedro Martinez, does that mean they already know the lucky number in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes is not the one in their pocket?
Could be, and that could be for the best in the long run. Just not this season.
If the asking price for Halladay is as speculated - a package that contains at least a couple of the best prospects and a couple of current major-leaguers - then the Phillies are probably not going to make that deal. They have never made that deal, and there's little reason to believe they will start now.
They will probably try to get into the game, try to get the price down to where the scales of risk and reward are more balanced, but, unlike chasing Pedro Martinez, there will be more than just the Phillies at the door of the Blue Jays.
In the end, it wouldn't be that surprising if Toronto held onto Halladay. He's signed for another season and the Jays have the luxury of waiting until the offers are exactly to their liking.
The Phils can't wait much longer to do something about the rotation. It is patched and fraying again and leaking air in new places all the time.
They need to go out and get someone, but they do not need what they already have. Perhaps that's the genius of it. They don't have a 37-year-old who might or might not want to still play baseball, who had his last decent season in 2005.
There's only one of those on the market and, according to many reports in several languages, the Phillies have it cornered. No kidding.
Contact columnist Bob Ford at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com.
Read his blog at http://philly.com/postpatterns.
