Long before Pedro Martinez called the Yankees his “daddy,” he tried getting traded to the Bronx.

Three separate times, to be exact.

Martinez asked the Montreal Expos to trade him to the Yankees several times before they eventually shipped him off to Boston, where he would build his Hall of Fame resume, Martinez said on Reddit on Tuesday.

A Redditt user had asked him if playing for the Yankees ever had “appeal” to the right-hander.

“Yes, all the time,” Martinez said. “asked to be traded to the Yankees three times before I got to Boston. I was always in trade talks for three straight years. I was the last one left on rotation and when I was asked where I wanted to be, at that exact moment Yankees were taking off, I wanted to be somewhere I could win ... this is New York, where most of the Dominicans are, I wanted to play for a team like that. They were always in the front line winning, they were a contending team ... I asked to be traded to Cleveland, the Orioles, and I think San Francisco in the NL because Atlanta didn’t need me.”

Martinez did end up pitching in New York, eventually.

After seven years with the Red Sox, Martinez pitched parts of four seasons with the Mets, where he wasn’t all that bad (4.11 ERA, 79 starts). He finished his career with the Phillies.

Martinez was on Reddit promoting his upcoming appearances on MLB on TBS.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.