Carl Pavano

Carl Anthony Pavano (born January 8, 1976 in New Britain, Connecticut) is a pitcher for the New York Yankees. Pavano is known for being injury-prone, spending the majority of the , , and seasons on the disabled list, and having his work ethic questioned by teammates.

Early career

Pavano was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round of the amateur draft. He came out of Southington High School located in Southington, CT. In November , he was sent to Montreal, along with pitcher Tony Armas, Jr., in the trade that brought Pedro Martínez to Boston. Pavano debuted with the Expos in and was traded to the Florida Marlins in the middle of the season in a trade that included Cliff Floyd. Pavano gave up Mark McGwire's 70th home run in the 1998 season.

World Series performance

Despite having been plagued by injuries, Pavano became an important part of Florida's starting rotation and had a highly successful postseason in for the World Series-Champion Marlins. He started Game 4 of the Series against the Yankees, holding New York to one run over eight innings in a game the Marlins would go on to win, 4-3, in extra innings.

In a nine year career with Montreal, Florida, and the New York Yankees, Pavano compiled a 62-64 record with 677 strikeouts and a 4.27 ERA in 1049 innings. At the plate, he was a .139 hitter with two home runs and 14 RBI in 166 games.

As a Yankee

Pavano followed up his playoff exploits with his best season to date in , posting an 18-8 record and a 3.00 ERA. He became a free agent following the season and, despite receiving bigger offers from Boston and Cincinnati, chose to accept a four-year contract worth $39.95 million with the New York Yankees on December 20, 2004. In 2005, Pavano began the season with quality starts in seven of his first 10 appearances, compiling a 4-2 record and a 3.69 ERA. However, in June of that year, he injured his right shoulder and went on the disabled list. Pavano made 17 starts and finished 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA. The Yankees expected him to be healthy for the 2006 season, but Pavano began the season on the disabled list after bruising his buttocks in a spring training game. He did not pitch at all in the Majors in 2006, making only minor league rehab starts. On August 15, 2006, he broke two ribs in an automobile accident. However, he did not tell the Yankees until August 28, the day they informed him that they planned for him to come off the disabled list to play that Thursday.

In spring training in 2007, Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina said that Pavano needed to prove that he wanted to pitch for the team. Mussina said he does not believe he is the only Yankee who feels this way. "It didn't look good from a player's and teammate's standpoint," Mussina said of Pavano's injuries. "Was everything just coincidence? Over and over again? I don't know." Manager Joe Torre explained that the amount of work Pavano needed to do in repairing his clubhouse image was "sizable." Later that season, after ace Chien-Ming Wang injured his right hamstring late in spring training, the Yankees chose Pavano to start on Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium. On April 15, 2007, Pavano was placed on the 15-day DL with what was described as an "elbow strain". On May 23, 2007, it was reported that Pavano would opt for Tommy John surgery in his elbow.

In December 2007, the Yankee organization asked Pavano to accept a minor league contract to clear space on their 40-man roster, Pavano's agent, Tom O'Connell, stated that he would consider the request, but he later turned it down. O'Connell also stated that Pavano's rehabilitation is going faster than expected and he might be available to pitch at the Major League level by mid-summer 2008. By refusing the minor league contract and remaining on the roster the entire season, Pavano guaranteed himself a share of the Yankees' post-season bonus money, which would have been worth up to $300,000 had the Yankees won the World Series.

On July 29, 2008, Pavano made his first rehab start since his Tommy John surgery for the Charleston RiverDogs, allowing one hit and one walk in two scoreless innings.

Pavano made his first start of the season during the Yankees series against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday August 23, 2008, pitching 5 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in the Yankees 5-3 win. He made his second start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 29 and was victorious pitching 6 innings in the Yankees 2-1 win.

Since his first stint on the disabled list, Pavano did not endear himself to his Yankee teammates and has stated that he will not visit the team when they play in Tampa Bay, near where the pitcher is rehabilitating. Meanwhile, Pavano's agent Tom O'Connell – the fourth agent the right-hander has gone through in his career – believes that Pavano would still be a desired commodity on the free-agent market this winter, even with his injury history. "Carl's a 1-2 starter. Those guys don't grow on trees. Those guys are very rare, 200-inning guys are very rare in this game, and they're the ones that make the money. And he did it two years in a row, before he got hurt, and I'm sure he's going to do it again," O'Connell said.

During a game Pavano started on September 14, he allowed three earned runs and five hits before he left the mound in the sixth inning following a visit by the trainer and manager Joe Girardi. Pavano was pitching to Eric Hinske with one out and a runner on first when he got the mound visit. After a short discussion, Pavano walked off the field as the sellout crowd showered him with boos. It was reported as a "left hip injury.

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