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Indians Wooing Carl Pavano to Cleveland, and Now He's Officially Signed

Matt SnyderPosted Jan 6th 2009 3:25PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Indians, AL Central, MLB Rumors

See the end of the post for the final update.

Numerous reports are placing the Cleveland Indians as the front-runner to land former Expos, Yankees, and Marlins starting pitcher, Carl Pavano. Pavano would likely slide into the back-end of the Tribe's rotation alongside Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers, while Fausto Carmona and reigning Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee anchor it.

I don't believe there's much of a market for Pavano, so the Indians won't be overpaying for him. It's a good thing, too, because if you look at Pavano's track record, he's been a less than average pitcher with the exception of one season. In 2004, Pavano went 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 222 1/3 innings of work. This was following an average-ish 2003 season, though he was lights out in the postseason as the Marlins won it all.

In the wake of those performances, the Yankees signed Pavano to an absurd contract, which has now -- four years and $38 million later -- finally concluded. That's only $4.22 million per win, so I guess it was worth it.
Continue Reading Indians Wooing Carl Pavano to Cleveland, and Now He's Officially Signed

Yankees Don't Offer Arbitration to Abreu, Pettitte and Giambi

Matt WatsonPosted Dec 2nd 2008 11:30AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Cubs, Mets, Yankees, AL East, MLB Transactions

Bobby AbreuThe Yankees officially severed ties with all six of their free agents, opting against offering arbitration to Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Chad Moeller, Sidney Ponson, Ivan Rodriguez and Carl Pavano. For the last four, this was expected, but it wasn't clear until the last minute whether the team would offer to Abreu or Pettitte.

Even if the Yankees extended arbitration, Abreu likely would have refused -- he turns 35 in March and is hoping to strike it rich with what might be his last big multi-year deal. The Yankees would have received two draft picks as compensation had they offered arbitration and Abreu signed elsewhere, but considering he made $16 million last year, they didn't want to take the chance that might accept, especially considering they're already set in the outfield corners without him.

So what happens to Abreu now? Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports that he's been in contact with the Mets and Cubs, and now that the risk of giving up a pair of draft picks has been removed from the equation, negotiations could heat up.
Continue Reading Yankees Don't Offer Arbitration to Abreu, Pettitte and Giambi

Carl Pavano Aims to Prove You Can Go Home Again (Or at Least to Florida)

MulletPosted Nov 13th 2008 5:15PM by Mullet (author feed)
Filed under: Marlins, Yankees, AL East, NL East, MLB Rumors

Carl Pavano has been a running joke for four years. In his time with the Yankees, who signed him to a monstrous deal in 2005 (only to have it bought out making him a free agent this season), he's had almost as many injuries as wins ... only nine as a New York Yankee in four seasons.

Pavano's last good season was that walk year in '04, an 18-8 record with an ERA of 3.00. And Pavano is open to the idea of returning to the team he had that monster season with: the Florida Marlins.
"I look back at those four years with the Yankees, it was exhausting," he said. "But if I was healthy, no doubt about it, the team would have benefited and I would have benefited." (...)

"If they think I can help the team, it would be great. Obviously, I have great memories pitching with the Marlins," said Pavano, 32, who began his major-league career in Montreal under owner Jeffrey Loria, who owned the Expos before buying the Marlins.
It's amazing how many baseball changing moments this guy has been involved in. He was part of the package that Expos got from Boston in return for Pedro Martinez. He gave up Mark McGwire's 70th home run in '98. With the Marlins, he started the Bartman game. And he's now in the running for the title of "Biggest Free Agent Bust ... EVER!" But hey, if the Marlins will have him on the cheap, then maybe some good karma will come back his way as a fifth starter, instead of being on the wrong end of just about everything. I wouldn't hold my breath expecting another 18-8 season though.

Footprints in the Snow: San Diego Padres

Matt SnyderPosted Nov 13th 2008 2:00PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Padres, NL West

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

After clinging to contender-ship for the past few years, it seems as though last season was a wake-up call to San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers. Trevor Hoffman will not be the closer this year, Khalil Greene is likely to be traded, and Jake Peavy is definitely going to be traded. Let's examine what triggered this.

The Padres can't hit, and they are not in position to develop an offense any time soon. They had been able to survive with little offense the previous three seasons because their pitching and defense -- teamed with their home-field advantage in spacious Petco Park -- was able to churn out those 3-2 and 2-1 victories enough times to stay competitive. That all went by the wayside in 2008, as significant time was missed by Peavy and Chris Young atop the rotation (they made only 45 combined starts after making 64 in 2007) and the rest of the starters were shaky all season. In turn, the team ERA ballooned from 3.70 to 4.41.
Continue Reading Footprints in the Snow: San Diego Padres

Yankees Cut Ties with Giambi and Pavano

Matt WatsonPosted Nov 5th 2008 4:50PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Athletics, Yankees, AL East, AL West, MLB Rumors, MLB Transactions

Jason GiambiIt wasn't hard to see this coming, but the Yankees shaved nearly $30 million off their payroll on Tuesday by declining their options on Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano. Giambi, who was scheduled to earn $22 million in 2009, will instead receive a $5 million buyout. Pavano, who was due $13 million, will receive $1.95 million.

Neither player will ever sign another contract even half as lucrative as the one he just finished, but that doesn't mean they'll be unemployed come spring.

Giambi has his faults -- his defense is suspect, he can't hit for average -- but he has one of the best batting eyes in the game and can still hit the ball a mile when he connects. He was linked to the A's last month when some of his former teammates started publicly campaigning for him, and it's at least worth mentioning that the A's have hired his longtime personal trainer, Bob Alejo, as their new strength and conditioning coach.

Continue Reading Yankees Cut Ties with Giambi and Pavano

Chone Figgins to Have His Elbow Examined

Tom FornelliPosted Sep 18th 2008 1:40PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Angels, AL West, MLB Injuries

The best thing about the Angels clinching the AL West so early is that it gives the team plenty of time to set things up for the postseason. They can line up their starting rotation anyway they like it, and they also have time to let their players rest and recover from various injuries. Considering how many injuries the Angels have, they need as much time as they can get.

If only those players would stop getting hurt. Chone Figgins was hit by a pitch on his elbow on September 8th, and it is still not getting any better, which is why he's going to undergo an MRI on it this week.
Third baseman Chone Figgins will return to Southern California this morning for X-rays and an MRI test on his right elbow, which was hit by a Carl Pavano fastball Sept. 8 and remained too sore Wednesday for him to play the field.

"I'm wondering why the soreness isn't going away -- that's my concern," Figgins said before the Angels' 3-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum. "It's not going away with ice and the usual [treatment]. They just want to check it out."
That damn Carl Pavano, he's just not content with finding ways to hurt himself, now he's taking out others.

To make matters worse, Figgins isn't the only Angel who has a date with an MRI machine, as Vladimir Guerrero just had one done on his troublesome right knee. There was no new damage found in the knee, but there is inflammation and the Angels don't know when Guerrero will return to the lineup. He hasn't played since Friday.

Eye Toward October: Sept. 18

Andrew JohnsonPosted Sep 18th 2008 4:36AM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
Filed under: Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Rays, Red Sox, MLB Injuries

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- No Time for Panic: The Brewers finally stopped the bleeding Wednesday night, beating the Cubs to end a five-game winning streak and keeping pace with the Mets, who were also victorious, in the wild-card race. But they might be worse off anyway. Ben Sheets left the game after two innings with stiffness in his forearm. After the game, Sheets revealed he has been battling elbow soreness since late August -- describing it as a "cutting" sensation.

Yikes. Considering this is a team that just couldn't go on with its manager with two weeks left in the season and the wild-card lead, it's hard to imagine that the possibility one of its best pitchers being out indefinitely will go over well. Milwaukee has already made its panic move by firing Ned Yost. Now they're really in trouble, right?

Yes and no. Sheets was slated to make two more starts this season. If he can't make either, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that the Brewers have a better chance at qualifying for the postseason than they did yesterday. That doesn't mean we should bury them entirely, though.

After all, it's only two starts. Sure, maybe they're two of the biggest starts in a quarter century for the franchise, but how many mediocre pitchers, even terrible pitchers, have strung together two good starts in a row in the major leagues. Heck, Carl Pavano even won two consecutive starts at the end of last month.

Stars are born this time of year, but so are unlikely heroes who rise to the occasion at the right moment then fade into baseball oblivion. (See: Spencer, Shane.) Carlos Villanueva or Seth McClung would be in line to start should Sheets be unable to go, and both are capable of turning in a good start or two.

There have been plenty of histrionics about the Mets and Brewers collapsing, but odds are one of those teams is going to the postseason anyway. With or without Sheets, there's no reason it can't be Milwaukee.
Continue Reading Eye Toward October: Sept. 18

From the Windup: The Evolution of Loyalty

Will BrinsonPosted Sep 10th 2008 9:00AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Braves, NL East, MLB Biz, MLB Fans, MLB Media Watch, MLB Rumors


From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

It took me roughly six hours to formulate any sort of attack plan for this column. And that would be embarrassing if the column wasn't about the very thing that was really screwing my head around backwards: John Smoltz's comments to Jay Busbee.
"I say this for the first time, without reservation, if I'm going to bust my butt and if I feel like I'm good enough and it doesn't work out here, I will be pitching somewhere else ... My dream scenario would be to pitch in the playoffs again, and that's coming from a guy who's been in 13 of them. (Smoltz missed the 2000 playoffs with Tommy John surgery.) To me, that's what I'm about. So if the door gets closed here, it'll have to be explored somewhere else."
This is a terrifying statement for any fan of baseball and particularly for any lifelong Braves fan who places Smoltz as his favorite ballplayer ever. In fairness to Smoltz, of course, he didn't know the interview was going in Atlanta Magazine (not sure how that actually matters) and he did point out that the ideal situation was to finish his career with the Braves.
Continue Reading From the Windup: The Evolution of Loyalty

Feeling Sorry -- Yes, Sorry -- For Carl Pavano

Eamonn BrennanPosted Sep 8th 2008 8:30PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
Filed under: Yankees, AL East, MLB Injuries

Carl Pavano is a joke. A sham. An injury-riddled cautionary tale about big contracts and underachieving talent. At least, that's how most Yankee fans, writers, and probably most of the Yankees themselves feel -- Pavano took tens of millions of dollars and sat, injured, the entire time he was supposed to be earning his money.

But of course things aren't that simple. Now that he's back and 3-0, and thanks to the New York Times's Tyler Kepner, Pavano gets to tell his story in the paper of record today, and it's hard not to feel at least a little bit sorry for him:
"A lot of times when I was in Tampa, I was really angry, because I'm away from my team, and I'm down there not getting the support that you feel you need to be successful," Pavano said. "You know people are doubting you that should be helping you," he added. "You know people are kicking you when you're down, and they should be picking you up. That's the nature of this environment."
There's plenty more in there, including confusion over a pre-James Andrews diagnosis that led to some of the animosity between Pavano and the Yankees. Is Carl Pavano a paragon of virtue? No. But he, at least for once, seems way more human than the caricatures we've heard for four years. Don't get me wrong -- caricatures are fun! But sometimes they need some tweaking.

Carl Pavano Gets the Last Laugh

Matt WatsonPosted Sep 4th 2008 4:43PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Yankees, AL East

Carl PavanoA couple of weeks ago, baseball fans everywhere (including, um, this guy) enjoyed a hearty laugh at the expense of the Yankees, whose pitching situation had become so desperate that they actually turned to Carl Pavano. I mean, Carl freakin' Pavano! What a joke, right?

Three starts later, though, the only person still laughing is Pavano, who's actually looked pretty good. He's still showing a bit of rust, but he's 2-0 after three starts and has yet to give up more than three runs in any of his starts, posting a respectable 4.20 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

He lasted only four innings last night but the Yankees still hung on for the win. Digging a little deeper, that's actually become a bit of a trend. Peter Abraham of the LoHud Yankees Blog explains:
This from radio legend Sweeny Murti: The Yankees have won the last six games that Carl Pavano has started.

OK, so three were in 2008, two were in 2007 and one was in 2005. But six in a row is six in a row. When the Idle pitches, the Yankees win. Mark it down.
It matters little in the big picture -- the Yankees are still going to watch the playoffs on TV this year -- but it's a little surprising coming from a guy who most fans regard as little more than a running joke. There's absolutely no chance that the Yankees will pick up his $13 million option for 2009, but if he keeps it up over the final month of the season, it won't be a surprise if he actually garners a bit of interest over the winter.

It'd be foolish to sign him to anything but an incentive-based contract based on the number of starts he actually stays healthy enough to make, but still, even that seemed completely out of the picture just a few weeks ago.
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