Pavano: Biggest free-agent bust ever?
The New York Yankees finally appear to have thrown in the towel when it comes to Carl Pavano.
As Pavano awaits word from noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews as to whether or not his latest injury will require elbow surgery, the Yankees finally seem to be admitting that Pavano is a bust.
"It clearly hasn't worked out. There's no doubt about that," General Manager Brian Cashman said Friday. "We signed a player that we expected to be a horse in our rotation and it hasn't worked out. He physically hasn't held up. Period."
Uh, geez, Brian, it took you this long to figure that out? Little slow on the uptake, aren't you?
It seems that about the only thing Pavano ever did well as a Yankee was collect derisive nicknames. Let's see, there was Rajah of Rehab, Calamity Carl, Carl Puss-vano, Carl 'Pane of Glass' Pavano, and I'm sure others I haven't heard. Have a favorite Pavano nickname that isn't on this list? Let me know.
So, where does Pavano, who signed a four-year, $39.95 million deal allegedly to pitch for the Yankees, fit on the list of the biggest free-agent pitching busts of all time? Clearly, a grand total of 5 victories in the first three seasons of that contract, including just one in the past two years, puts him right near the top of the list.
Who are some of the other pitchers on that list? Let's take a look.
Darren Dreifort, Dodgers
Dreifort had a 39-45 career record when he somehow finagled a five year, $55 million contract from the Dodgers in 2001.
Dreifort suffered a series of injuries, went 9-15 over the life of the contract and didn't pitch again after the 2004 season.
Mike Hampton, Rockies
Hampton left the Mets to sign an 8-year, $121 million deal with Colorado after the 2000 season. At the time, I believe that was the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher. He won 14 games his first season, but went 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA his second year. The Rockies then traded him and he wound up in Atlanta. Due to injuries, Hampton has not pitched since midway through the 2005 season. He is out for the rest of this season with a torn tendon in his pitching elbow.
Denny Neagle, Rockies
During the same off-season in which they signed Hampton, the Rockies gave the soft-tossing Neagle a 5-year, $51 million dollar deal. He repaid Colorado by going 19-23. He missed most of the 2003 season due to elbow surgery. The Rockies terminated his contract in 2004 due to a variety of legal issues.
Kevin Brown, Dodgers
Brown became the first $100 million dollar man in baseball history when he signed a 7-year, $105 million contract with Los Angeles after the 1998 season.
He won 31 games his first two seasons, but injuries made him largely ineffective during the next five seasons. After five seasons, the Dodgers traded him to the Yankees.
During the life of the contract, Brown averaged only 9 victories per season. He retired once the contract concluded.
Chan Ho Park
Park signed a 5-year, $65 million deal with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2002 season. He never won more than 9 games in a season for the Rangers and was traded to San Diego in the fourth year of the contract.
Can you come up with anybody I have left off the list? I'm sure there are a couple of guys I didn't think of.
As for Pavano, how high on that list is he? He might be right at the top. At least the other guys mentioned have actually TRIED to pitch, though each of them did suffer injuries.
Uh, geez, Brian, it took you this long to figure that out? Little slow on the uptake, aren't you?
It seems that about the only thing Pavano ever did well as a Yankee was collect derisive nicknames. Let's see, there was Rajah of Rehab, Calamity Carl, Carl Puss-vano, Carl 'Pane of Glass' Pavano, and I'm sure others I haven't heard. Have a favorite Pavano nickname that isn't on this list? Let me know.
So, where does Pavano, who signed a four-year, $39.95 million deal allegedly to pitch for the Yankees, fit on the list of the biggest free-agent pitching busts of all time? Clearly, a grand total of 5 victories in the first three seasons of that contract, including just one in the past two years, puts him right near the top of the list.
Who are some of the other pitchers on that list? Let's take a look.
Darren Dreifort, DodgersDreifort had a 39-45 career record when he somehow finagled a five year, $55 million contract from the Dodgers in 2001.
Dreifort suffered a series of injuries, went 9-15 over the life of the contract and didn't pitch again after the 2004 season.
Mike Hampton, Rockies
Hampton left the Mets to sign an 8-year, $121 million deal with Colorado after the 2000 season. At the time, I believe that was the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher. He won 14 games his first season, but went 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA his second year. The Rockies then traded him and he wound up in Atlanta. Due to injuries, Hampton has not pitched since midway through the 2005 season. He is out for the rest of this season with a torn tendon in his pitching elbow.
Denny Neagle, Rockies
During the same off-season in which they signed Hampton, the Rockies gave the soft-tossing Neagle a 5-year, $51 million dollar deal. He repaid Colorado by going 19-23. He missed most of the 2003 season due to elbow surgery. The Rockies terminated his contract in 2004 due to a variety of legal issues.
Kevin Brown, DodgersBrown became the first $100 million dollar man in baseball history when he signed a 7-year, $105 million contract with Los Angeles after the 1998 season.
He won 31 games his first two seasons, but injuries made him largely ineffective during the next five seasons. After five seasons, the Dodgers traded him to the Yankees.
During the life of the contract, Brown averaged only 9 victories per season. He retired once the contract concluded.
Chan Ho Park
Park signed a 5-year, $65 million deal with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2002 season. He never won more than 9 games in a season for the Rangers and was traded to San Diego in the fourth year of the contract.
Can you come up with anybody I have left off the list? I'm sure there are a couple of guys I didn't think of.
As for Pavano, how high on that list is he? He might be right at the top. At least the other guys mentioned have actually TRIED to pitch, though each of them did suffer injuries.
3 comments:
Those Rockies ones can't be considered as bad because of the Coors Field effect, and the Dodgers got 3.5 good years out of Brown, which when you're signing a 34-year-old guy to a seven year deal is probably all you can really expect. I'd put Dreifort right up there, maybe with Pavano second. With Pavano, maybe you couldn't have seen the injuries coming, but with Dreifort the Dodgers were pretty stupid to give him that deal in the first place; 11 million a year to a guy who'd never won even 14 games or pitched 200 innings in a season? He had bust on his forehead from the start. I don't know how people can even complain about this past winter's signings in light of some of the early 2000s stuff. But the Dodgers seem to routinely make bad choices surrounding free agent SPs - how's Jason Schmidt doing this year? Oh, right.
For a nickname for him, I remember reading somewhere that they called him "The American Idle." Thought that was pretty good.
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