by Ken Rosenthal

Those clubs, plus the Yankees and Angels, will watch Martinez throw on Friday in the Dominican Republic, according to major-league sources.

However, each of those teams is downplaying its interest in signing Martinez, at least to a major-league contract.

One executive said his club is sending scouts to watch Martinez only as a courtesy to the pitcher's agent, Fernando Cuza.

Most teams currently have scouts in the Dominican checking on amateur talent, and some of those scouts are in a convenient position to look at Martinez.

Martinez, 37, is seeking about $3 million — a pro-rated portion of his original $5 million request — to pitch the rest of the season, one source said.

The interest in Martinez almost certainly would rise if he were willing to sign a minor-league contract. But he has strongly indicated that he will not lower his price.

Meanwhile, none of the four teams that will watch Martinez on Friday considers starting pitching to be its greatest area of need.

The Angels are concerned about right-hander Ervin Santana, but they are more focused on acquiring bullpen help and were not interested in Martinez when their rotation was in an even more depleted state earlier this season.

The Yankees, too, would benefit more from the addition of a reliever. They believe Chien-Ming Wang made progress in his start against the Nationals on Wednesday night, and currently have an extra starter, righty Phil Hughes, pitching out of the bullpen.

The Rays also do not need a starter. They would need to bump either right-hander Andy Sonnanstine or Jeff Niemann to the bullpen if they added Martinez, and their financial flexibility is limited.

The Cubs could add Martinez as insurance against further injury to right-hander Rich Harden, but starting pitching is the strength of their club. Their bigger concern, by far, is their continued difficulty scoring runs.