By Geoff Walter / SNY.tv

 

It's official: Pedro Martinez has now become the Mets version of Carl Pavano, being paid to continually rehab in the hope that someday, somewhere, somehow, they'll get a few starts out of his reconstructed right arm. Martinez is still in his rehabilitation program down in Florida and while Met GM Omar Minaya has built this year's team without Martinez as one of the keystones, he wouldn't mind having the Boston expatriate in the rotation sooner rather than later.

 

If Martinez is making as much progress as everyone claims, then why isn't his program being accelerated for a return to the Majors mid-August rather than possibly still being stuck in the Minors? Your average starting pitcher needs about five or six starts in the Major Leagues in order to be effective. Take a look at Roger Clemens -- he's only now become effective after about six starts with the Yankees, throwing at the levels at which he is capable. Before that he made three Minor League starts before coming back with the Yankees, and those first six starts were the equivalent of what he would have thrown if he started in March in Spring Training. Are there any other reasons to believe that Pedro won't perform differently once he rejoins the Mets?

The Rocket didn't come back from rotator cuff surgery one month before the playoffs start either. If the Mets do bring Martinez back to the Majors at the beginning of September, he'd only have about five or six starts at the maximum before the division series start, where the hitting and pitching are so much greater because you're facing better teams. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with Martinez in that situation.

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