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The defending World Series champion Phillies lead the division by four games over Florida despite dealing with injuries in their rotation. Brett Myers had hip surgery in June. Antonio Bastardo, who replaced Myers, landed on the disabled list after making five starts. They have used nine starters through 86 games. They used only seven starters last season.
Martinez said if his health fails, he'll walk away.
"I'll be the first one convinced, really convinced, if I can do it or not," Martinez said. "If I don't do it, I'm going to go on and take myself out of baseball."
Martinez is 214-99 with a 2.91 ERA in 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal, Boston and the Mets. He helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004.
He won the Cy Young Award in 1997, 1999 and 2000, and has led the AL in ERA, wins and strikeouts.
"I bring with me a legacy, I bring with me my last name," Martinez said.
Adding Martinez isn't expected to prevent the Phillies from pursuing All-Star Roy Halladay. The Toronto Blue Jays are listening to offers for the 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner, and Philadelphia already has expressed strong interest.
"This doesn't preclude us from doing other things with the club," Amaro said.
The Phillies came away impressed after watching Martinez pitch in the Dominican Republic. Amaro said Martinez threw mostly in the high 80s, but topped 91 mph in workouts.
"We felt like he threw well enough that it was the right time to make a move on him," Amaro said.
[Associated Press;
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