Twins - Acquired Pavano

Twins - Acquired P Karlheinz Pavano from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named.

On the upside for Pavano, he’s shown that the possibility exists that he can throw more than 20 pitches without needing expensive surgery that results in him being out for 18 months.  On the downside, he’s also shown that even healthy, he still goes through periods where he’s throwing batting practice.  His Clustering o’ Horrible makes him a tiny bit better than the ERA indicates, but it can be frustrating to have him tease glimpses of his pre-Yankee form and then go back to essentially ending games by the 3rd inning.

The Twins are probably surprised that they have a use for Pavano, but after a season in which most of the projected rotation has either been disappointing or injured (and frequently both), Pavano does come in handy down the stretch.  He’ll hardly push the Twins into a playoff spot, however.  Personally, I think you can put a fork in them for this season.

2009 ZIPS Projection - Carl Pavano
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                 W    L    G  GS     IP    H   ER   HR   BB   SO   ERA
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Year-to-Date     9    8   21  21  125.7  150   75   19   23   88  5.37

Rest-of-Year     2    2    5   5   27.7   30   14    4    5   18  4.55
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Total           11   10   26  26  153.3  180   89   23   28  106  5.22

Year-to-date totals include minor-league translations, if applicable.