Cleveland's New Starting Pitcher?

by Tribe Alive on Jan 6, 2009 12:32 PM EST Comment 42 comments

It will be....

CARL PAVANO!!!

Seems like a very interesting, incentive based signing. I never loved him when he was with Florida but I guess he could be an average acquisition. I would rather spend a little more and get an injury prone guy like Sheets.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Indians are in serious discussions with free agent starter Carl Pavano. Pavano will visit Cleveland soon and a deal could be wrapped up quickly. We'll have to see if Pavano can come close to the $2MM guaranteed Mike Hampton received from the Astros.

[attributed to Buster Olney by a rumors site, and not substantiated - Ryan]

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You beat me to the punch on this one…by one minute nonetheless. I certainly would rather sign someone else, but with our limited resources, this is probably the best we can do. If he stays healthy, maybe we get 8 wins out of him as our #4 starter…more likely scenario is that he’ll end up on the DL before the season starts. Here’s hoping (praying, wishing, dreaming) this is another Kevin Millwood signing for us!

by tobytobytoby on Jan 6, 2009 12:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

who’s Kevin Millwood?

by hans on Jan 6, 2009 12:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This isn’t going to end well.

by Ryan on Jan 6, 2009 12:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It probably can’t end that badly though.

by KevinV on Jan 6, 2009 12:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sure it can. We’re the Indians. Remember Jason Johnson. Oh, and a serious flag here for linking to MLBTradeRumors.

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on Jan 6, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the real JJ mistake was sticking with him for too long, not his actual performance.

Hopefully Shapiro learned that lesson.

by KevinV on Jan 6, 2009 1:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Based on his response times to the Pronk, Victor, and JoeBo injuries, he didn’t.

by JulioBernazard on Jan 6, 2009 2:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

TRIBE ALIVE DID NOTHING WRONG!

by JulioBernazard on Jan 6, 2009 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ok, even assuming he can stay healthy (big assumption, giving that the last time he pitched a full season was 2004), it’s not a given he’d be better than David Huff, whose spot he’d be taking in the rotation.

by Ryan on Jan 6, 2009 1:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We are short on starters. I don’t mind a low risk roll of the dice like this.

by KevinV on Jan 6, 2009 1:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’d like to see Huff start next year in the Cleveland’s rotation too, but given the Indians past history that unlikely in my opnion.

by world dictator on Jan 6, 2009 2:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think it is that unlikely. He doesn’t have much to prove in the minors; he spent half the season in Buffalo, 16 starts, and actually had even better peripherals there (4.43 K/BB) than in Akron (5.40 K/BB). I think any of the optionable guys will have to significantly outperform the non-optionable guys (Reyes and maybe Pavano) in order to take a spot from one of them, but I see little reason that Huff could take a job away from Jackson or even Sowers. I guess Huff would take a 40-man spot away, but they’re going to have to deal with that at some point in order to use him, and I think it’s better than even money that that happens this season.

I would think Laffey has a leg up on the other optionable guys, simply based on having the most big-league success over the last season or two.

Here’s a scary fact: Lee racked up more PRC last season (139) than Carmona, Sowers, Laffey, Reyes and Westbrook combined (33 + 32 + 31 + 25 + 17 = 138).

by Jay on Jan 6, 2009 2:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

(5.4 k/bb in Buffalo and 4.43 k/bb in Akron)

Has there been any serious discussion of a 4-man rotation lately?

by cleveland teamer on Jan 6, 2009 3:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I tried to make the case like a year and a half ago.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Jan 6, 2009 3:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is there anyone on this board who really thinks that we will not likely use at least 6 or 7 starters this year? I think any more, we pretty much have to assume that we’ll need at least 1 and probably 2 starting pitchers from AAA at some point, if only for doubleheaders and rainouts.

Pronk Needs You

by woodsmeister on Jan 6, 2009 3:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess there’s not really a downside here, provided he’s not allowed to suck up too many major league innings. But I have to say I don’t see any upside other than as a depth starter in C-bus. Even when he was “good” his K rate was barely average.

by mrich on Jan 6, 2009 12:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Is he better than Laffey or Sowers…honestly?

by Tribe Alive on Jan 6, 2009 12:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It’s kind of hard not to be better than Sowers was last year. That being said, this seems like a strange signing.

by Cols714 on Jan 6, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If he stays healthy (big if but hey Kerry Wood and all) I’d take him over both in a heart beat.

by mjschaefer on Jan 6, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

fangraphs blog on pavano

by mrich on Jan 6, 2009 12:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pavano has always relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it more than 50% in each of his past three seasons, including 63.5% in 2005. Unfortunately, it appears he’s lost a few ticks since then, with his average fastball coming in just shy of 88, rather than 90.

blech

by macasson on Jan 6, 2009 1:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Castrovince mentioned Pavano and kris Benson as possibilities in an article yesterday

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090103&content_id=3732193&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle

by millionairesrow on Jan 6, 2009 12:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, can we get that link changed?

by afh4 on Jan 6, 2009 12:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’ve removed the link, which does not link to any substantiation. If Olney posts this piece in his blog, I’ll link to it.

by Ryan on Jan 6, 2009 1:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

crasnick now reporting it as a rumor

by macasson on Jan 6, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not a fan of this if it indeed happens.

by JP_Frost on Jan 6, 2009 1:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

For the record, I do not care, at all. If we spend less than 2 million dollars on Carl Pavano, I don’t care. It’s just another arm to compete.

by afh4 on Jan 6, 2009 1:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

this

by Roger Dorn on Jan 6, 2009 1:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that’s like half a giambi

by emil minty on Jan 6, 2009 1:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Or like 4 Jeremy Giambis.

by afh4 on Jan 6, 2009 1:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cool.

by jhon on Jan 6, 2009 1:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I thought this might happen… This is typical Shapiro/ Wedge take a chance with an old star dont spend much money and sign a 1 year deal. Lots of upside not much down side.

by NCTRIB on Jan 6, 2009 1:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs