Musing Over Jeremy Bonderman and Carl Pavano

By the time you read these words, the Indians may have already signed Jeremy Bonderman—hopefully to a contract that is light on guaranteed cash and heavy on performance-based incentives. When I first heard the Bonderman-scuttlebutt on Tuesday evening (reported by Jordan Bastain, doing a great job filling Anthony Castrovince’s shoes, by the way) I was immediately reminded of Carl Pavano.  Yesterday, TD touched on, among other things, the similarities between a potential Bonderman signing and the Pavano deal from 2009. And for good reason.  Both guys appeared to have peaked several years before the Indians came calling.  Both were above average pitchers (though neither “great” nor even “very good”) before their careers took respective detours. Pavano had five productive-ish seasons with the Expos and Marlins before the Yankees backed up their dumptruck full of cash.  The four-year deal in New York was not a good one: Pavano pitched both badly and rarely, while being paid like an ace. ...