Thank God for the Zo Zone.
On a dreary Tuesday afternoon, one in which office productivity probably stood around 15 percent (less if even a whisper of new Halladay news came out), MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki posted pretty much the entire Pedro Martinez contract.
Most of it was pretty standard -- other parts were downright hilarious.
Zolecki broke it down like this:
Martinez is guaranteed roughly $938,000 -- a number that may quiet some anti-Pedro sentiments.
When it comes to actually playing, Martinez will cash in an additional $75,000 for his sixth through 10th starts and $100,000 for his 11th through 15th starts.
If he comes in for relief work, Martinez can make $50,000 for 10 relief appearances, $50,000 for 15 appearances, $50,000 for 20 appearances and another $50,000 for 25 appearances. So if he enters 25 games he would earn a cool 200 grand.
Martinez can also make $75,000 for pitching 50 innings, $125,000 for pitching 75 innings and $175,000 for throwing 100 innings.
Martinez can also make some money by staying healthy. He will make $50,000 if he is on the active roster for 15 days. Then if he remains on the roster for additional 15 days, he will make another $50,000, all the way up to 75 days. So if he stays on the roster for 75, Martinez can make an easy $250,000.
Then things get amusing.
In the maybe-could-happen category, Martinez can earn $100,000 for being named Comeback Player of the Year. He could also earn an additional $25,000 by winning a Gold Glove.
In the improbable chance that he gets named World Series MVP, Martinez will receive a $100,000 bonus and $50,000 if he gets named as the NLCS MVP.
And then, although it’s almost impossible, Martinez will get a bonus for placing in Cy Young contention. He’ll get $100,000 for finishing first, $75,000 for finishing second and $50,000 for finishing third in the voting.
And it looks like Martinez was ready to earn some of his money sooner-rather-than-later.
He threw 64 pitches in a four-inning simulated game in Clearwater, Fla. on Tuesday. He called his effort a “really big step.”
He faced 20 batters and struck out six, ESPN.com reported.
“I thought it went very well. The ball seemed to be coming out of his hand much better, I think, in the second two innings than the first. I was impressed with his ability to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
Martinez will reportedly throw off a bullpen mound on Thursday and could pitch in a minor league game as soon as Sunday.
