Carl Pavano

A photo of Carl Pavano.

Early career

Pavano was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 13th round of the 1994 amateur draft. He came out of Southington High School located in Southington, CT. In November 1997, he was sent to Montreal, along with pitcher Tony Armas, Jr., in a trade that brought Pedro Martínez to Boston. Pavano debuted with the Expos in 1998 and was traded to the Florida Marlins in the middle of the 2002 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 2003 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 seven year career with Montreal and Florida, Pavano compiled a 62-64 record with 677 strikeouts and a 4.25 ERA in 1049 innings. At bat, he is a .142 hitter with two home runs and 14 RBI in 161 games.

As a Yankee

Pavano followed up his playoff exploits with his best season to date in 2004, 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 11, 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 didn't 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 2007, 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.

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. The Yankees expect Pavano to pitch by September if he avoids another setback.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube