Archive for Carl Pavano

Nov
04

Much ado about Pavano

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (80)

It’s always amusing when the back page of the Daily News doesn’t match up with the article it’s over-hyping. Today’s tabloid exploitation comes to us courtesy of Carl Pavano.

According to Mark Feinsand, some source feels that Brian Cashman may be interested in Carl Pavano. To the back page editors, this is an opportunity to splash Pavano all over the back pages with some unknown intent. But had these editors actually bothered to read the article, they would have come across a few key passages from Feinsand:

“I’m not ruling anything out,” Cashman said. “We have needs, so we’ll have to go to the marketplace, be it through free agency or through trades, to fill those needs.”

Bringing back Pavano certainly won’t be the big move the Yankees are looking to make this winter, but rather one that could help fill in the back end of the rotation.

That’s really what this is all about. Hardly different from the Sergio Mitre deal, the Yankees would bring back Pavano for one year at a very low base price with some incentives. If it doesn’t work out early, they can cut their losses. If it looks like Pavano might be half-useful, the Yanks could either keep him or trade him to a team in need of pitching. There are only about 29 other clubs that fit that bill.

For his part, Pavano is supposedly interested in returning to the Yanks in an effort to live down his bad reputation. “At the end of the day, his first choice would be to come back to New York,” Tom O’Connell, Pavano’s agent, said to Feinsand. “He feels he has some unfinished business.”

As long as the Yanks aren’t going to consider Pavano one of their first five starters, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to tossing another arm in the mix come March. One thing is for sure; it would give the Daily News something to overhype every five days and these people something to ignorantly rail against too.

Categories : Hot Stove League
Comments (80)

It’s amazing what $39.95 million can buy in these troubled economic times. For their pretty penny, the Yanks got 26 starts and nine wins. That’s just $4.43 million a win. Act now; supplies are going fast.

In a rather inglorious fashion, the Carl Pavano Era in the Bronx likely ended last night when Pavano and a bunch of Yankee farmhands lost to the Blue Jays 8-2. Roy Halladay threw a complete game, giving up six hits and a walk in the process, and if it seemed like the fifth time this year the Yanks have lost to Hallday, well, that’s because it was. Only once did the Yanks beat the AL Cy Young candidate, and that was a way back on Opening Day when Chien-Ming Wang outdueled Halladay.

For Pavano, today was hardly a stellar start in his effort to find himself a job for next year. He lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and two walks. He struck out one.

On the season, Pavano made seven starts for the Yanks and has thrown 34.1 innings. He has a 4-2 record with a 5.77 ERA, and he struck out 15 while walking 10. While we’ve debated the merits of picking up Pavano’s option for 2009 to ensure some pitching depth, the truth is that Pavano just hasn’t offered up much. He hasn’t shown much control; his breaking pitches are doing much breaking. It seems as though, after three season of inactivity, Pavano has turned from a pitcher into a thrower.

What Pavano and his failed tenure symbolize for the Yanks is up for debate. It could stand for the frustrations of the last few seasons. It could stand for an era of decadence in which the Yanks tried to grab every big-name free agent out of there regardless of numbers of make-up. Or it could just have been a high-profile mistake that, today, doesn’t even seem that expensive.

At some point, another Carl Pavano will come along. In fact, Carl wasn’t the first of his kind – Darren Dreifort and Mike Hampton come to mind — and he won’t be the last. But as Pavano heads for greener pastures, perhaps the Yanks have learned their lessons about signing pitchers that just aren’t that good. Good bye, Carl. We hardly knew ye.

Categories : Game Stories
Comments (22)

No Yankee fan thinks too highly of Carl Pavano these days. While Pavano has managed to make three starts in a row for the first time since 2005, Yankee fans generally feel that he took the team for a ride. But what if he didn’t? What if he’s a tragic figure? That’s the question Tyler Kepner poses and attempts to answer in today’s Times. Pavano certainly should be blamed for his injuries, but maybe there’s a sympathetic side to this tale as well.

Categories : Asides
Comments (22)
Aug
25

What can Pavano do for us?

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (67)

Not much, says Newsday’s Jim Baumbach. The media these days really loves to doubt Pavano, but I’m not ready to hop on that bandwagon. Perhaps the oft-injured Carl can do some good for the Yankees over the next five weeks. He is, after all, pitching for a contract.

Categories : Asides
Comments (67)
Aug
23

Pags: Pavano could be useful

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (13)

As we near the first Carl Pavano start since April 2007, Mike Pagliarulo has chimed in with a piece of reverse psychology analysis. The former Yankee believes that Pavano can be effective because he’s made just two starts since the middle of 2005. And some people accuse us of focusing too much on the silver lining and not the cloud. That is some admirable logic from Pags right there.

Meanwhile, as part of the Welcome Back tour for Carl Pavano, Tyler Kepner looks at a few contracts worse than Pavano’s. Yes, Kei Igawa earned himself a spot on that list.

Categories : Asides, Pitching
Comments (13)
Aug
21

Pavano to start Saturday

Posted by: Mike Axisa | Comments (92)

It’s official, PeteAbe’s got the news. I’m kinda excited, actually. Imagine if he goes like, 6-0, 1.50 ERA down the stretch and the Yanks make the playoffs. All would be forgotten, no?

Categories : Asides, Injuries
Comments (92)

I guess the ice pack worked. According to Ed Price, Carl Pavano’s neck is feeling better, and Pavano will probably start on Saturday in Baltimore. This could be a momentous occasion indeed. Fun fact: Carl Pavano has made two starts since the beginning of the 2007 campaign, and I witnessed one of them in person.

Categories : Asides, Injuries
Comments (92)

While Tyler Kepner speculates that Carl Pavano could — baring some not-so-catastrophic injury — be Saturday’s starter, Pavano seems to have other plans in mind. According to numerous reports — including one from PeteAbe — Pavano skipped a bullpen session yesterday with a stiff neck. I mean, seriously? Seriously? Just pitch.

Categories : Asides
Comments (30)

According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, the Yanks are planning to start either Carl Pavano or Phil Hughes this Saturday in Baltimore against the Orioles. Yes, you’ve read that correctly: Carl Pavano may pitch for the Yankees during a pennant race. Right now, I’d say Pavano gets the start. He had a better rehab outing yesterday than Hughes did, and the Yanks are going to be very careful with their pitching prospect. Pavano also has the added motivation of pitching for a contract. This could get rather entertaining.

Categories : Asides
Comments (51)
Aug
01

Hughes activated from the DL

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (24)

It’s the next article in an ongoing effort to bring you misleading RAB headlines about Phil Hughes. The Yankees, says Peter Abraham, have activated Phil Hughes from the DL and have shipped him off to Single A Charleston. He’ll continue to work his way up through the system as on an assignment but is off the 30-day rehab schedule. Carl Pavano, meanwhile, is still on a rehab clock. In 28 days, he will be back in the Bronx, reinjured or off the Yankees.

Categories : Asides
Comments (24)