Pedro Martinez Won’t Chase Mets

Christian Red of the New York Daily News talked to free agent starter Pedro Martinez, who spoke about the Mets:

"You know what? My phone is off. And I won’t (call Minaya) unless he calls my agent (Fernando Cuza) or he calls me. I have a lot of respect for Omar and the Mets, but I’m not going to go chasing the Mets.  I’m not in that bad of shape. I’m okay and they know I am okay.  Yeah, I would like to be back (with the Mets). But I’m not just gonna follow the Mets. They have their own plans and they have their own thought process.  Yes, I would love to go (to Citi Field) and hopefully have the same success I had at Shea. Shea was a great stadium for me. I hope the new Shea pretty much follows up on the old one.  But I have my goals and I have my things that I want to achieve in life. If it’s not with the Mets, it will be with someone else. But if they want a fifth starter who’s been there – I don’t know how much they want me – I’m available."

There’s been a decent amount of hand-wringing in New York over the fifth starter job, as no one is running away with the gig.  The candidates: Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, and Jon Niese.  ESPN’s Rob Neyer says the Mets don’t need Pedro and should just choose between Niese and Redding.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post would also pass.