[vincesanity82]

There was good news out of Mets camp in Florida yesterday. Pedro Martinez was pain-free during a 73-pitch outing against the organization's minor league camp, leaving him on track to make it back to the rotation sooner rather than later.

There was also bad news, though. His next departure from the Mets and major league baseball may also be sooner rather than later and it may be for good. Martinez's father was diagnosed with brain cancer this winter, sadly the outlook isn't very good, and he admitted that it's been pressing on his mind.

"It's taking a toll on me and my family, my dad's situation. I haven't been there for them. I just realized that between last year and this year I haven't been there for my family, my parents. That'll probably drag me away from the game a little sooner than people expect. After this season, I'm going to go back home and think about it and I'm going to decide."

Pedro Martinez Thinking About Retirement When the Season's Over - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

[legend]

My over-under for starts for Pedro this year is 8.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by legend

My over-under for starts for Pedro this year is 8.

That's about what I see at best.

[Bryan88]

That's too bad and I hate how the twilight of his career has gone. Pedro is one of the all-time great pitchers and his run from 1997 through 2003 was perhaps the greatest pitching ever seen in the history of the game. He had an ERA of 2.2 (league average was 4.7) and had an average ERA+ of 217 (for comparison, Johan Santana averaged a 157 over the last 4 years).