Paulo's Book Club: "Pedro, Carlos & Omar"

Reading “Pedro, Carlos and Omar” by Adam Rubin, with the benefit of hindsight actually ruined the book for me. The book was written on the premise that the signing of Pedro Martinez and subsequently Carlos Beltran was going to have a transformative impact on the organization, resulting in several World Series titles.




Reading it now, four painful years later, takes a lot of the excitement out of it.

The book also pushes the premise that Pedro’s impact would be felt beyond his performance on the field. It would be a recruiting tool for other top Latinos (starting with Carlos Beltran) and it would turn the Mets into Los Mets, a marketing juggernaut in the growing Hispanic market.

Four years later I now consider the Pedro Martinez signing one of the worst in Mets history. An injury prone pitcher, past his prime was given four years and $53 million. After a hot start in his first season (12-3) he limped to a record of 20-20 over the rest of his contract and was never there when the Mets needed him.

And his impact as a recruiter is grossly overstated as well. He supposedly was the reason Carlos Beltran signed with the Mets, but the book even says Beltran wanted to take $14 million less ($2m per year) to stay with the Astros, but they wouldn't give him a no-trade clause. And they didn't have Pedro. Beltran also wanted to sign with the Yankees for less money, but they didn't want him (no Pedro there either).

And Carlos Delgado? He turned down the chance to be Pedro's teammate when he was a free agent, and even bristled at the Mets' overuse of the Hispanic thing in his recruitment. He only joined the Mets at gunpoint after the Marlins sucked, then traded him.

The flawed premise of the book notwithstanding, I also dislike the style in which it is written. The book reads too much like a best-of compilation of Rubin's Daily News game recaps.

There are some great anecdotes about the offseason wheeling and dealing, and even some gems from during the season, but mostly it's a rehash of the games, without enough new info to make rehashing them worthwhile.

"Pedro, Carlos and Omar" shows a lot of promise, and starts strong, but is missing that certain something that would take it from good to great. Sort of like the team it describes.