Pedro Martinez: The Free Agent

After his mastery against the New York Mets last night, Pedro Martinez's numbers are officially ridiculous.

In seven starts with the Philadelphia Phillies, Martinez is 5-0 with a phenomenal 2.87 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.

Hey Pedro, this isn't 1999!

But in all honesty, I didn't think that he had much left in the tank. After watching him gut through the 2008 season with the Mets, where he was nothing more than a bad fifth starter, I believed that the dominant Martinez was long gone, the very good Martinez was no more, and the sometimes OK Martinez was here to stay.

But as they say, that's why they play the games. I don't think anyone in their wildest dreams could have imagined that Martinez was going to be this good with the Phillies. For God's sake, he's (in an admittedly limited sample size) striking out almost a batter an inning...34 K in 37 innings!

So what does this all mean for Pedro Martinez as we look towards 2010?

Well, I can tell you one thing, he will not have to wait until July to find work. It's become clear that Martinez still has the ability to be an effective starting pitcher, especially in the National League.

I know it's easy for us to get ahead of ourselves here because the sample size is so small, but his stuff looks very, very sharp right now.

At this point, would it be naive to think that Martinez could actually get more than a one-year deal on the open market? Probably. But if Pedro finishes out the season strong and has a dynamite postseason, then maybe, just maybe, the idea of giving a 38-year-old Pedro Martinez a two-year deal might not sound so stupid and crazy.

Thoughts? How much can Pedro get on the open market?