The Indians made a solid moving in signing often injured Carl Pavano to a one-year $1.5 million incentive-laden contract (potentially reaching $5.3 million) early this week. And while I like adding Pavano from the low risk, high reward perspective, at the same time this move characterizes the type of team that the Indians have become.As GM Mark Shapiro explained about the deal, "With our limited resources we were looking for a veteran with upside." The problem is, the Indians are always going to be a team with limited resources, which means the Pavano-type signings have become the norm during Tribe offseasons.
Since 2005, the Indians signed the following free agents who spent time in the majors:
- Bob Wickman
- Kevin Millword
- Jason Bere
- Billy Traber
- Juan Gonzalez
- Alex Cora
- Paul Shuey
- Paul Byrd
- Lou Merloni
- Tim Laker
- Danny Graves
- Steve Karsay
- Einar Diaz
- Jason Johnson
- Todd Hollandsworth
- Eduardo Perez
- Felix Heredia
- Mike Rose
- Aaron Fultz
- Roberto Hernandez
- Joe Borowski
- David Dellucci
- Jeff Harris
- Keith Ginter
- Luis Rivas
- Keith Foulke
- Trot Nixon
- Rich Rundles
- Cliff Politte
- Mike Koplove
- Yamid Haad
- Masa Kobayashi
- Rick Bauer
- Jeff Harris
- Matt Ginter
- Jorge Julio
- Brendan Donnelly
- Scott Elarton
- Jason Tyner
- Craig Breslow
- Kerry Wood
- Carl Pavano
Let's face it, at this point it's clear that the Indians are never going to be in the hunt for a major all-star free agent, a Mark Teixeira, a Manny Ramirez or even an A.J. Burnett or Ben Sheets until Larry Dolan sells the team or the league implements some form of salary cap. Nor are the Indians ever going to be able to keep their own all-star talent for an extended period of time unless the player gives them a hometown discount, which almost never happens - just look at Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Ramirez C.C. Sabathia or Albert Belle. Does anyone really think it's possible that Grady will stay here when he becomes a free agent in a few years?
I have no problem with the Indians taking a chance on a guy - like the Kevin Millwood signing, a cheap one-year incentive ladden contract, which can benefit both sides if it works out - which is essentially this Carl Pavano deal. The problem remains though that almost anyone the Indians can afford to sign or pursue will always have some sort of significant downfall. And when you're relying on a team full of flawed players, the results aren't often pretty. In fact, it could certainly be argued that Indians were a "star" away from being in the World Series 2 of the past 4 years. Or even a decent player. Perhaps if we had opted for a Jose Guillen instead of a Jason Tyner?
Look, I hope at the end of this season, Carl Pavano has earned his full $5.3 million by pitching his 35 starts and at least his 235 innings. The more money Pavano makes, the better the Indians have done on the year. And let's be clear - I like this signing. I just wish that the Pavano-type signings that the Indians have been making that past few years weren't the only sort of deals that this team was making.
Read the rest of this article
Posts
