The Boston Globe reports that the Cubs and Rays “have watched [Pedro] Martinez throw in the Dominican and both teams have begun to at least explore how much money it would take to lure Martinez back to the mound.”

The 36-year-old Martinez, who went 5-6, 5.61 for the Mets last season, has been unable to get teams to bite on his reported $5 million asking price.

At first blush, it’s hard to imagine why the Cubs are worried about starting pitching and not offensive help: Cub starters currently have the league’s best ERA (3.68), while the Cub offense has produced fewer runs than all but three other NL clubs.

But as Rob G. theorizes at The Cub Reporter, the addition of Martinez (pictured this spring pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic) could then free up the team to trade a suddenly surplus starter like rookie Randy Wells for the much needed injection of offense.