I’ll attempt to keep this one shorter than all of my other journals. Reading a recent blurb on Metsblog.com I was initially surprised to hear that Minaya might have interest in bringing back Pedro Martinez for one last hurrah. Initially I was confused, and even upset by this concept, but shortly there after cooler heads prevailed, and I began to think this was not worse then a poke in the eye.

Obviously Pedro is a shell of his former self, and the Mets clearly paid him way too much over the last 3 seasons for his minimal return. I will also say that the likeliness of him being able to start more than 25 games next season is low. However, if the Mets bring him back under the auspice of the potential 5^th starter for a year as they ease Jonathan Niese into the rotation on a cheap one year deal, it might not be the worst thing in the world. Some might call it Stockholm syndrome, but I would prefer the player I know to the player I don’t when it comes to finding a player who would flawed enough to be a fifth starter.

Considering the price of starting pitching these days, and the fact that Pedro would likely be willing to take a low pay one year in an effort to revive his career with a team he has been with for the last 4 years it would be a more inexpencive choice than most other options for a fifth starter. There is also an upside. Pedro isn’t too far withdrawn from 5 great starts at the end of 2007. In addition to that, the more Pedro was able to pitch last year the better he got. After getting shut down in April, and having a lousy June when he came back with a .233 OBA in July followed by a reasonable August and a lame duck September along with the rest of the team.

Obviously there are better options at this point for a fifth starter. There are plenty of trade options and even more signable candidates, but if the teams or agents want more than a fair deal and the Mets find themselves in a lurch, I would not be too quick to reject Pedro outright. There is the chance that he can regain the form he had at the end of the 2007 season, and there are worse last resort candidates. Besides, if he comes cheap enough and has a solid season he might make up some of that money he owes us.