A Look Back At Carl Pavano's Time With The Twins

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced that starting pitcher Carl Pavano had suffered a bruise on his humorous bone and will be shut down for the remainder of the season.

Pavano was in the last year of his deal with the Twins, and with the team’s focus likely to turn on acquiring young pitchers to rebuild their rotation, it’s unlikely that we’ll see Carl Pavano in a Twins uniform again.

2012 was a down year for Pavano, who seemed to struggle with velocity and control issues throughout much of the season. As a result, Pavano could only muster a 2-5 record with a 6.00 ERA in 11 games (63 innings) of work.

With the struggles of the Twins over the past two seasons, I think that Pavano’s contributions to the team are often overlooked. While Pavano didn’t act as a lynchpin to any World Series run, he was a very good addition to the Twins rotation and may have saved his reputation by pitching for the Twins over the past two seasons.

Pre-Twin Years:

Pavano’s career has been filled with many ups and downs. His peak occurred during the 2004 season with the Florida Marlins, where he posted a record of 18-8 and a reliable 3.00 ERA.

Pavano was a free agent after the 2004 season and was looked at as one of the best free agent pitchers on the market. The Yankees, as is their MO, signed Pavano to a massive 4 year $40 million contract. (To be fair, there were bigger offers from Boston and Cincinnati reportedly on the table, so it’s not as if the Yankees went “insane” with their offer).

Pavano’s time with the Yankees was an unmitigated disaster, due in large part to injuries. The 2005 season started with Pavano posting a 4-2 W/L record, but finished with Pavano hitting the DL in June. The injury limited Pavano to 17 starts in his first season in New York.

2006 ended before it began for Pavano. A spring training injury and a list of other maladies limited Pavano to minor league relief efforts through much of the season. In August of 2006, Pavano was involved in an automobile accident in which he broke two ribs and was shut down for the remainder of the year.

The New York market is infamous for being less than patient with its big name players, and with his contract, Pavano was deemed to be a big name player. Fans were growing impatient with Pavano simply because he couldn’t seem to stay healthy.

By the start of the 2007 season, it was clear that Yankee fans and Yankee players were doubting the effort Pavano was putting towards pitching for the team. The Yankee clubhouse was reportedly questioning Pavano’s desire to help his team win and Yankee Manager Joe Torre claimed that Pavano had “sizeable” damage to his clubhouse image.

Within the first weeks of the 2007 season, Pavano was diagnosed with an elbow injury that would once again send him to the DL. The injury required Tommy John surgery and forced Pavano to once again be shut down only a few games into the season.

Pavano did not appear in a Yankee uniform again until August of 2008 and pitched for the team through September 14^th of that season where he was lifted from a game due to “hip soreness”. Yankee fans had enough of Pavano and subsequently booed him as he left the field.

All in all, Pavano spent 4 seasons with the Yankees and ended up on the DL in each season. He posted a 9-8 record with a 4.80 ERA. Not exactly what the Yankees were expecting when they signed him for just short of $10 million per year.

Pavano Comes to Minnesota:

In 2009, Pavano signed a $1.5 million contract with Cleveland Indians. In August of 2009, Cleveland traded Pavano to the Twins, who were in tight race for the AL Central title. Pavano aided the staff in their pennant push and started a game (against the Yankees of all teams) in the ALDS for the Twins.

The Twins offered Pavano salary arbitration following the 2009 season, which he accepted. It's hard to say wheter the change or scenary, reduction in market size or just being healthy was the cause, but 2010 was probably Pavano’s best season outside of his 2004 efforts with the Marlins.

Pavano threw for 221 innings and posted a 17-11 record with a 3.75 ERA. During the heart of the season (June – August) Pavano went 11-2  and threw two (back to back) complete games.

Prior to 2011, the Twins signed Pavano to a two year deal, averaging $8.5 million per year.

2011 saw Pavano start poorly as he struggled with control in the early months of the season. By early June, however, Pavano had figured out his ailments and quickly became the most reliable pitcher on the woe begotten 2011 Twins staff.

He posted a 9-13 record with a 4.30 ERA, which is a relative victory considering his 2-4 W/L with 6.64 ERA to start the season.  

It’s tough to look at Pavano’s overall stats and view him as a high caliber pitcher – especially when you factor the 4 disastrous New York seasons into the equation. But, from a Twins fan’s perspective, Pavano was an absolute workhorse who took the mound for 200+ innings for the Twins in two seasons. He was a reliable veteran pitcher during their playoff runs in 2009 & 2010 and acted as a coach / mentor for newly minted Twins ‘ace’ Scott Diamond in 2012.

Carl Pavano is not a Hall of Fame player, nor is he likely to be remembered favorably in New York. But when he was good – he was one of the most reliable pitchers on the staff. Luckily for the Twins, they were able to extract two really solid seasons from Pavano. It’s a shame that injuries have cost Pavano yet another season of pitching, but I feel Twins fans should hold nothing but content / support for the “Pav-stache” in their hearts.

Pavano still has gas in the tank and will likely play for another team next season. His shaky 2011 and poor 2012 seasons mean he won’t be viewed as an elite pitching prospect, but savvy GMs and smaller market teams in need of a veteran would be wise to give him a look.

Oakland and Baltimore immediately come to mind as small market, competitive teams in needs of one more reliable arm. Here’s hoping Pavano returns to the majors in 2013 healthy and ready to pitch for a potential contender.