Pedro Martinez...better than George Foster

I know what you're thinking, "Duh Metstradamus, of course Pedro Martinez is better than George Foster, why would you even write a headline like that? What are you, stupid or something?"

Well I am stupid. And I've been told that I've been something else. But let me explain what I mean.

In 1982, the Mets were a joke of an organization. They had just finished a 5 year stretch where they had traded the face of their franchise, changed ownership, and developed another face of the franchise and had traded him too. Throw in a manager change, and an inferiority complex about a team who plays in the Bronx who had just played four World Series in 6 seasons, and you had a team in shambles. Before the 1982 season Frank Cashen, who had been the Mets GM for about two years, acquired George Foster via free agency. Now Foster was past his prime, but noone knew it then. He was just four seasons removed from a 52 HR season, and his signing served notice to the rest of baseball that the Mets were serious about returning to respectability, and were done with nickel and diming their fans.

While Foster's Met career was a disaster which culminated in racial accusations against the team that signed his huge paycheck, his signing did set the stage for other bold moves such as the trades for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter. Along with prospects in the farm system, those moves brought the Mets a World Championship within 5 seasons of Foster's signing.

So we flash forward to just last winter. The Mets were a joke of an organization. They had just finished a 2 year stretch where they traded their top prospect for a pitcher with a bum elbow, and tried to move the face of their franchise to another position and were publicly humiliated as a result. Throw in two manager changes, and an inferiority complex about a team who plays in the Bronx who had just played in 6 World Series in eight seasons, and you had a team in shambles (follow a trend here?) So before the 2005 season Omar Minaya, who had been the Mets GM for about two months acquired Pedro Martinez via free agency.

As opposed to Foster, everybody and their mother seemed to think that Pedro Martinez was past his prime, even though Martinez was four years removed from this third Cy Young award. I can't say the reasons weren't valid for this line of thinking. His arm was old, he had a reputation for being a bit of a diva, and his "call the Yankees my daddy" comment foretold of some demons in his head (most of which were planted with the help of Grady Little during game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.) I myself thought that Carl Pavano would have been the better move considering his age and lack of baggage.

But Martinez, like Foster, was responsible for bigger moves down the road. In fact you can definitely say that Martinez is directly responsible for the signing of Carlos Beltran. Beltran even said himself that the Pedro signing helped convince him to be here. So once Beltran signed, Martinez started proving everyone wrong before even throwing a single pitch. Pedro Martinez indeed served notice to the rest of baseball that the Mets were serious about returning to respectability, and were done with nickel and diming their fans.

As I watch Pedro pitch tonight, even with the bomb he gave up to Carlos Lee, I feel bad that I ever associated this future hall of famer with a stiff like George Foster. But his signing, like Foster's is most assuredly the start of bigger and better things, no matter what happens with Pedro's career down the road. Yes, even if Pedro does end up being George Foster, his legacy will most assuredly be as the starting point bigger and better things for the New York Mets.