Catching Up With Carl

Via the Star Ledger -

The days blur together, distinguished only by minor developments in his throwing program — an extra 10 feet of distance, another dozen throws. For Carl Pavano, even these marginal increments serve as benchmarks on yet another agonizingly slow journey back to the mound.

The rest of the time, he’s just passing the time.

“I’ve got the baseball package, I watch all our games, I relax,” Pavano said yesterday at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa. “I mean, what is there really to do? I try to eat well, and stay in shape, and look forward to my next throwing session. That’s really all I’ve got going right now.”

In his time with the Yankees, he’s pitched in only 19 games, going 5-6. He missed all of 2006 and is still a ways off from throwing off a mound this year, as he focuses on getting his surgically repaired elbow up to strength with long-tossing.

Aside from watching the Yankees games on TV, Pavano doesn’t stay in contact with any of his teammates. When asked if he would visit the team during their series with the Tampa Bay Rays this week, he shook his head and said, “no chance.”

Pavano’s agent Tom O’Connell — the fourth agent the right-hander has gone through in his career — believes that Pavano would still be a desired commodity on the free-agent market this winter, even with his injury history.

“Carl’s a 1-2 starter,” O’Connell said. “Those guys don’t grow on trees. Those guys are very rare, 200-inning guys are very rare in this game, and they’re the ones that make the money. And he did it two years in a row, before he got hurt, and I’m sure he’s going to do it again.”

“Carl’s a 1-2 starter.”

Well, I’ll give him # 2. But, I’m thinking of “# 2″ as in what you teach a toddler to say when they have to go potty and it’s more than just a tinkle.