Pedro Martinez threw out the first pitch of the Red Sox home opener in 2010. (AP)

In an interview with the New York Times, three-time Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez said that he remains open to returning to baseball in order to join a team with World Series ambitions. The right-hander, who pitched for the Red Sox from 1998-2004, said that he could be ready to face major league hitters in a month to a month and a half if a team called him, and if approached by the Phillies (with whom he pitched in the 2009 World Series), Yankees and Red Sox, he would want to return to the team with whom he enjoyed his greatest success.

“I’d probably have to say the Red Sox,” Martinez said when asked for which of those three teams he would most like to pitch. “I would like to win a World Series in the National League, so the Phillies are in there, too. But for the time I’m going to be playing, I think Boston is more suitable so that I can retire with the Boston Red Sox and go to the Hall of Fame with the same hat.”

Martinez also said that he is picking the Phillies to beat the Red Sox in the World Series.

“I believe if the pitching staff stays healthy, I’d pick the Phillies to win the World Series and National League,” said Martinez. “In the American League, I’d probably have to go with the Red Sox. They’re loaded. They have pitching, they have everything, so I think they’re due.”

Martinez, 39, did not pitch in 2010, but he has never filed retirement papers with Major League Baseball. He went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA, 37 strikeouts and eight walks in 44 innings for the Phillies in 2009. In his seven years with the Red Sox, he was 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA while averaging 10.9 strikeouts and just 2.0 walks per nine innings.