Jan 6th 2009 3:25PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
See the end of the post for the final update.

Numerous reports are placing the Cleveland Indians as the front-runner to land former Expos, Yankees, and Marlins starting pitcher, Carl Pavano. Pavano would likely slide into the back-end of the Tribe’s rotation alongside Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers, while Fausto Carmona and reigning Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee anchor it.

I don’t believe there’s much of a market for Pavano, so the Indians won’t be overpaying for him. It’s a good thing, too, because if you look at Pavano’s track record, he’s been a less than average pitcher with the exception of one season. In 2004, Pavano went 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 222 1/3 innings of work. This was following an average-ish 2003 season, though he was lights out in the postseason as the Marlins won it all.

In the wake of those performances, the Yankees signed Pavano to an absurd contract, which has now — four years and $38 million later — finally concluded. That’s only $4.22 million per win, so I guess it was worth it.Continue Reading