Pavano Remembered

First of all, what's up with the bull horns, the gavel, and the flags on the desk? Was this signed in W.'s office at Camp David?

Anyway, I remember seeing Carl Pavano come into a game to pitch mop-up relief for the Marlins in 2002.

This was shortly after Omar Minaya executed his "So if I destroy the Expos I get to be GM of the Mets, right?" plan - which basically involved trading the entire Major League Roster for a month worth of Cliff Floyd, and then spinning him to Boston for a couple of crappy Korean minor league pitchers, as well as trading the entire farm system for a half season of Bartolo Colon and then spinning him for only one player who was even remotely useful.

And you can make your own Rocky Biddle joke.

There was some concern that Minaya had made a beneficial trade for the Expos when he got Nick Johnson, which led him to being summoned to Bud Selig's office for this exchange:

BUD: Omar, I'm a little concerned that this Johnson guy might make the Expos, you know, competitive.

OMAR: I thought you'd bring that up, Bud. In fact, I brought him with me today. Nick, stand up in meet the Commissioner.

JOHNSON: Aaaah! My back!

OMAR: Jeez, Nick - sit down, sit down!

JOHNSON: Aaaah! My knee!

BUD: Here, young man, have a glass of water.

JOHNSON: Thanks. Aaaah! My shoulder!

BUD: On second thought, Omar, I don't see a problem here.

JOHNSON: The oxygen in the air! It burns! It burns!

For years Pavano, along with Tony Armas, Jr., the other player involved in the Pedro trade, (fun fact: Mike Stanley for Tony Armas, Jr. in '97 was the last Red Sox-Yankees trade to date), was one of those ultimate Fantasy baseball teases. While trolling the waiver wire, you'd see that the guy had won his last few starts and had a decent ERA. Once on your team, he would almost instantly become ineffective and then hurt.

I was wary of this in 2004, when I added Pavano, but he actually got the job done that year.

In fact, 3 years ago at this time, I was telling my father that Pavano would be the pitcher to go after in the offseason. Thankfully, the Yankees got there first.

While I reaped the benefits of Pavano's 18-8 record, I did have my reservations. Namely, there was the fact that Pavano struck out only 139 batters in 222 1/3 innings of work, for a 5.6 K/9IP ratio.

Factor in that Pavano was playing in the NL, where he faced what were essentially 7-man lineups (why pitch to the 8-hole hitter in a tight situation with the pitcher on deck) and that he pitched his home games in Pro Player Stadium - where the field is so vast they move on to the next hitter on routine fly balls before the ball is caught in the interest of saving time.

Pavano in the AL East was always a recipe for catastrophe - but what happened is far from expected.

Yes, he logged a lot of innings, but after the layover he had prior to this year, could anyone have predicted the immediate need for Tommy John surgery? Couldn't this have been figured out in '01-'03, based on the evidence Teddy cited?

Also, can anyone predict an injury caused by crashing a car into a dumpster (or was it a dump truck), then a lame coverup attempt before coming clean.

And most of all, how did this guy ever score Alyssa Milano?

Of course, the Yankees being the Yankees - and I'm talking about their payroll here - there's no reason to boo-hoo them. I was proven wrong by Gil Meche in KC, but given the money that they put into him, and the budget they work with, a Pavonoesque career would be truly crippling.

The Yankees' are like a Manhattan socialite - and this was just a mildly expensive, but ultimately forgettable mistake.