PHILADELPHIA — What did Dominican newspaper Candela Deportiva do Thursday when it reported that the Phillies had signed righthanded pitcher Pedro Martinez for $4 million? Adelantarse a los acontecimientos, according to both Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and Fernando Cuza, the agent for Martinez. You know: jump the gun.

The thing is in motion, though — that much is obvious. And Amaro, facing his first crucible as the Phillies’ general manager, seems open to the idea of patching his starting rotation with a 37-year-old who used to be the working definition of greatness (with a decided emphasis on the “used to be”).
It would be a reach into the past. It would be wishful thinking writ large. If it is the only move Amaro can make — either for budgetary reasons or because no one else shakes loose — it would become the shorthand that everyone would use for the general manager’s first season.
For better or worse, it would be the year Ruben voted for Pedro.
That is, of course, if this really happens. After the Candela Deportiva report, Amaro allowed himself to be cornered by reporters for about 90 seconds Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
“I don’t know where it comes from, but there’s no comment about it,” he said. “I’m not talking about Pedro and I haven’t talked about Pedro.”
For the next minute, Amaro denied that the Phillies had signed Martinez and no-commented pretty much everything else. He did acknowledge that he had heard of Martinez, but not much more. It was a splendid dance: skilled, stylish and short. Amaro quickly fled the hallway outside of manager Charlie Manuel’s office for a safer place.
There is an ESPN report that the Phillies, after seeing Martinez pitch in a simulated game on Tuesday, want to see him throw again Friday in the Dominican Republic to see how his arm responds. This only makes sense. It also suggests that they liked what they saw the first time. If they didn’t, why bother?
He started 20 games for the Mets last year, finishing with a 5-6 record and a 5.61 ERA. He had two main issues in 2008: a nagging hamstring problem that showed up in the fourth inning of his first start and lingered for months, and difficulty dealing with his father’s death.
There wasn’t much interest in him during the offseason, so he pitched for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, and he waited. The assumption is that, these many months later, he is ready.
But ready to be what? The Pedro of 2006, who had a 4.48 ERA in 23 starts before being forced to have rotator-cuff surgery that also cost him most of 2007? That would be an improvement for this Phillies rotation, but only a speck.
You have to go back to 2005 to find the last year when Pedro was really Pedro: 15-8 and a 2.82 ERA in his first season with the Mets. That this was a while ago goes without saying.
The Phillies have seen Martinez pitch this week, which is something that none of the rest of us can say. Amaro also has a much better idea of what, if any, starting pitching might really end up being available on the traditionally meager trade market and where its quality might fit, from the workaday to the Halladay.
There are still more questions than answers here. Would the Phillies sign Martinez? Would his addition to the payroll take them out of the Roy Halladay sweepstakes? Do they really have the goods to get into the Halladay sweepstakes if they aren’t willing to part with Double A righthander Kyle Drabek? Will there really be a Halladay sweepstakes, or a Dan Haren sweepstakes, or any sweepstakes?
Questions. They are all we have right now — and the guy with the answers isn’t talking. With that, accompanied by a screaming exclusiva on a Dominican newspaper’s Web site, we wait for the general manager’s first gamble, his first defining move.