Meanwhile, up in Boston, Clement was hammered for seven runs and 12 hits in 4 1/3 to bring his ERA up to nearly 4.00 one night after Wells was driven to the disabled less with a sprained foot after lasting just four innings. Add to that the fact that the Red Sox are also going to have to sit Schilling down as well due to complications with the ankle he injured but pitched on so heroically last season and one can see storm clouds already brewing in Boston if Martinez continues to dominate down the road.

Where that leaves Boston's starting rotation for the short term is in a mess. The irony is one reason for letting Martinez go was his supposed fragile health. Now, while the Big Hoss, Schilling, continues to gimp around and the very Big Hoss, Wells, waddles to the 15-day disabled list in Boston, Martinez continues to throw every fourth or fifth day in relatively dominating fashion for the Mets. That doesn't mean the Red Sox were wrong to let Martinez go rather than give him a four-year contract for more money than they felt he would be able to earn but at the minimum it has to make the powers that be who decided to break up Boston's first World Series winning team since 1918 a tad uncomfortable.

On Wednesday morning the defending champions and the lowly Mets both sat with identical 11-10 records in their respective leagues and you could argue Martinez was responsible for both marks because if he was still a Red Sox things would surely be different in Boston and were he not a Met his new team probably wouldn't be close to .500.

It's a long season, of course, and in the end it's expected the Red Sox will play to form and right their ship. Barring injury, there's no reason to assume Martinez will be any less effective when the warm weather comes than he has already been either. The only question then is will Wells, Clement and Miller become healthy enough to be as reliable as the little guy the Red Sox sent away to make room for them?

If they're not, there will be as much mention of Pedro Martinez in Boston this summer as there was a year ago. They'll just look at him differently.

Longingly, to be precise.

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