Pedro Signs With Phillies – GM Ruben Amaro Jr. Discusses
July 16, 2009 – 6:30 am by Michael Bean
Pedro signs! Pedro signs! Ok, I’m not that excited about it necessarily but it is good to think that fall baseball might have Pedro Martinez in it. Since leaving the Boston Red Sox following their magical run to the World Series title in 2005, Pedro has been largely irrelevant. Injuries, of course, are to blame primarily. Martinez will though turn 38 this October and he hasn’t been the first or the last pitcher to run out of steam in a big way in their mid 30s. Martinez is currently shelved with a shoulder strain, but the Phillies still felt it was worth it to sign him and stash him away for future use. He was immediately placed on the 15-day Disabled List and could be back pitching by the trading deadline on July 31st.
The Phils currently stand atop the NL East with a 48-38 record. They also take a 5 game winning streak with them to second place Florida beginning Thursday evening. The Phils general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. joined WIP in Philadelphia to talk about the Pedro acquisition and how the move affects the team’s strategy as the trading deadline approaches.
On why he believes Pedro ending up in Philly after not being able to find a right fit with a club for quite some time previously:
“When he threw for those clubs – I had spoken with Pedro’s agent not long after that. He was really looking for the right fit – both dollars wise, you know this isn’t making or breaking him this deal. But he’s looking for the right fit. Some of his goals, frankly, were to win in the National League. He wanted to play for a contending team and he wanted to play for a team he felt he could thrive in. I think this was kind of the perfect storm for him to come to Philadelphia.”
On the difference between what they saw in Pedro when he threw during the World Baseball Classic and how he threw prior to being signed:
“He threw ok. His velocity was probably somewhere between 85 I guess and 88. And he was effective and pitched pretty well, but he still wasn’t to the point where his arm was in shape and ready to go as we probably would have liked. He actually confessed to us – he said I wish our team would have stayed in it a lot longer because it would have been better for me to showcase it because I didn’t get a chance to really throw live against hitters to show how I was progressing. So you know, when he didn’t really get any bites or get anything he liked at that time, he continued to do long toss and throw to try to stay in shape just in case there was an opportunity for him to hook on with somebody he felt was more suitable for him.”
On if he thinks Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay will be traded and if the Phils are still potentially in play for him after the acquisition of Pedro:
“I don’t know. You’d have to talk to J.P. [Riccardi] about wheter Halladay will be traded. That’s not a discussion for me…We have had discussions with Toronto but not with just Toronto. We’ve had discussions with about 15 or 18 other clubs. So our discussions are not exclusive and there’s also other players on Toronoto’s club if they in fact end up being a seller, that we have interest in.”
Listen here to Amaro Jr. on WIP in Philadelphia
Tags: best righthanded pitchers of all time, Major League Baseball, Pedro Martinez, Pedro Martinez signs with Phillies, WIP
