Bronx, NY: The free agent market in Major League Baseball was thrown a curveball yesterday, as starting pitcher Carl Pavano was set to ink a 7 year, $115 million contract with the New York Yankees, until Pavano injured his wrist while trying to sign his name to the paperwork.
The injury caused a collective breath of relief from Yankees fans, after learning the injury occurred before the actual signing and not after Pavano was guaranteed another pile of money for doing nothing. Many fans feared that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman would begin to recklessly sign free agent pitchers like this after losing the bid for Cliff Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I’m not surprised that Cashman went after Carl Pavano,” stated jack-of-all-sports analysts Joe Buck. “He was out-maneuvered by the Phillies in acquiring the prize of the off-season, Cliff Lee. Andy Pettitte isn’t sure if he’s coming back, and Carl Crawford went to the Red Sox. Carl Pavano is now the next top pitcher on the market, history aside.”
The history is indeed grim between Carl Pavano and the New York Yankees. While playing for the Florida Marlins, Pavano had a World Series win against the Yankees in 2003 and posted an 18-8 record in 2004. After signing to the New York Yankees as a free agent, Pavano posted a 9-8 record with a 5.00 ERA and 145 inning pitched…over 3 years. This was due to continual injuries throughout that stretch of his career. After playing for 2 years with the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins, it seemed that Carl Pavano had left his accident-prone nature behind.
Cashman had signed broken-down prospective Cubs pitcher Mark Prior before the Pavano incident. He is now showing interest in 48 year old Jamie Moyer, who will be inactive for the 2010-2011 season. “Fuck it. Can he pitch now anyway? We need all the help we can get,” stated Cashman.