There have been recent rumors regarding the Angels looking outside the organization for pitching help, with Mark Mulder's and Pedro Martinez's names being tossed around. In order to try and get some clarity to the situation, I got in contact with the player agents for Mark Mulder and Pedro Martinez this afternoon to see if I could find out anything about the two players and their possible future with the Angels.

I sent Mulder's agent, Gregg Clifton, an email asking if the Angels had contacted him about signing his client, how soon he'd be able to pitch, and if he had any interest in playing in Anaheim.  His one sentence response, "We have never heard from the Angels."

I did get a chance to talk with Martinez's agent Fernando Cusa about Pedro wearing Angels' red.  He didn't want to go "on the record" as to the last time he had talked with anyone from the Angel front office, but he could say he had at least talked to the Angels.  He mentioned the Angels were the sort of team Pedro would be interested in signing with and pointed out that Vladimir Guerrero was one of Pedro's best friends from their days together in Montreal and recently Martinez had played for Angels' first base coach Alfredo Griffin during the WBC.

Cusa stated, "Pedro's worked hard all spring and is in great shape.  He brings intangibles like veteran leadership to a team. He makes it fun."

When asked how long after Pedro is signed would the pitcher be ready to start, Cusa replied, "A week."