December 12, 2004
Field General
Carl Pavano has announced his intentions of signing with the Yankees. It appears that Joe Torre made the difference.
But on Saturday morning, from his off-season home in the woods near
Montreal, Pavano told his agent to negotiate a deal with the Yankees. The sides were closing in on a four-year contract for just under $40 million, pending a physical, and Manager Joe Torre made the difference. "His conversations with Joe Torre, who spoke with him again by phone in the last couple of days, really were impactful," Pavano's agent, Scott Shapiro, said. "Carl told me point-blank that he would go to war for the man. You can't say anything bad about the decision of wanting to play for Joe Torre."
Taking away the clubhouse from George Steinbrenner is Torre's great accomplishment as manager of the Yankees. In the past, no matter who sat in the manager's office, the whole team belonged to the Boss. Now Joe is the guard on the bridge that keeps the two sides separate. The players and Steinbrenner both respect Torre for that. That's why he has the 2nd longest tenure among ML managers in a clubhouse that had a revolving door for 20 years.
There seems to be some question as to Pavano's worth. Based on 2004, $10 million a year is a good price. Carl put up 20 win shares last season, tied with Roger Clemens for 3rd in the NL. Only Randy Johnson and Ben Sheets were better. But this was a big jump for Pavano. In six season prior to 2004, Carl had earned just 29 win shares total. He doesn't strikeout many batters, 5.6 per 9. With the Yankees defense, that's always a worry. His walks and his HRs are good, however. The Yankees will be banking on Pavano being a late bloomer.
And now Pavano is lobbying the Yanks to trade for AJ Burnett (by giving up Vazquez). Burnett & Pavano are best friends. If AJ is 100% healthy, that just might be an excellent trade for the Yanks.
No, it would be a horrible trade for the Yankees, because the Marlins want Vazquez, $10.5 million, Brad Halsey and Felix Rodriguez. Insane.
If the Yankees sign Carlos Beltran and Tino Martinez, their defense will be solid enough to not expect a total collapse by Pavano based just on his strikeout rate.
Ack! Halsey, Rodriguez, $$$ and Vazquez??? That's insane!!!
i posted this on Primer before:
this is a terrible deal i think. i just looked at the numbers over the last 3 seasons for the Marlins alone, instead of comparing Pavano with all the other free agents that are so much better than him.
He has not even been the best pitcher on his own team. Yea, I know the Marlins have strong pitching but look at this:
2002-04 numbers
Player (K/9,WHIP), approx salary next season($mil)
Beckett (9.27, 1.27), $1.5
Burnett (8.35, 1.37), $2.5
Willis (7.15, 1.33), $0.353
Pavano (5.86, 1.30), $10
I know thats the be-all end-all comparison right there but doesnt it look just a little peculiar. This guy is not worth it.
And no Im not a big Marlins follower or anything, I only keep track of what they're doing while they destroy my Mets a few times a year but this is just silly. He has one pretty good year and now he's a big-time Yankee star making crazy money.
the Yankee front-office used to be the strength of the organization, maybe even more so than their unlimited resources, but now they're just throwing cash all over the place (Wright, Womack, Pavano, possibly Milton). What are they thinking?
The Vasquez/Halsey/Rodriguez/+$$$ has been said
to be one of the funny deals the Diamondbacks
have suggested to the Yankees for Randy Johnson.
And, yes, the people who built the Yankees of the
1990's are no longer trusted by George. He is doing
the same thing he did before he was suspended--
throwing money away on has-beens. It's all over.
It's been over for the Yanks since '01...of course they've had talent off the charts, but it hasn't been as balanced as their '90s teams were, and has become increasingly fragile. Their bench is the baseball equivalent of spackle, and age-related injury/decline is a constant spectre throughout each season. Susan is spot-on: we'll see a repeat of the mid-late '80s in these mid-late '00s...overpaid, old has-beens with no talent in-between. I think they'll have talent enough to make the postseason in '05, and then it'll be a cliff-dive. The only question I have is whether or not they'll even have a Mattingly-type...I suppose A-Rod's as close as they're going to get.
Pavano's pitched well the last year and a half and was a big prospect in the Red sox system. He'll be under a lot of pressure in NY. I like him a lot more than Jaret Wright. I agree with Dave S. they won the 4 out of 5 in 96-2000 with a mix of young talent up the middle, good veteran pitching, solid veterans at the corners, and Rivera. It's hard to see where they're as strong in any of those areas now. They're weaker defensively and their rotation is nowhere near as good. Of course they still have a load of talent.