PHILS SIGN PEDRO TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez has finally signed a contract with a big league team after months in limbo. The 37-year-old Martinez agreed a one-year deal with the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies last week for $1 million, plus another $1.5 million in incentives. Martinez had been seeking a $5 million contract after a good showing in March’s World Baseball Classic, but four months passed before the right-hander bit the bullet and signed with the Phils.

Martinez pitched twice at the Phillies’ Dominican academy before the team sat down to talk business with him. He was immediately placed on the disabled list, and will begin his season pitching a rehab assignment for a Phillies farm team. Martinez won the Cy Young Award three times between 1997 and 2000, and has a career record of 214-99 with a 2.91 ERA and 3,117 strikeouts over 17 big league seasons. Last year, he went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA for the New York Mets before becoming a free agent in the offseason.