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In all seriousness, what was really wrong with Pavano? I honestly can't believe that he couldn't throw for a month because of a sore butt. Was Cashman trying to play games with Pavano, trying to get him to cry uncle and demand a trade or negotiate a buy-out? I mean, there's being cautious and then there's being ridiculous. He couldn't have been THAT injured, could he have been?!

Thanks Steve, now I have coffee all over my keyboard... May as well thank you for the laugh.

MJ: I don't think that was the case, if Cashman wanted to move him, he would've moved him last offseason.

Pitching injuries are funny, it wouldn't suprise me that Pavano couldn't thow for a month because of a sore butt.

Good stuff Steve. Pavano is really a man's man.

I can't believe they're not using the rainout to skip Wright's turn. Chacon has a couple good starts under his belt, while Wright has, oh, a couple good innings. So let's push Chacon back and make sure Wright gets his start because he deserves it. Torre's bizarre fascination with "veterans" is something else (I'm sure in his mind Chacon is a rookie or something).

I know it's fashionable to hate Carl Pavano, but this is great news. The important thing is that he threw five innings and that his arm strength is there. That means he could probably be with the team within a few weeks. If he's already at five innings, then a few more starts should do it. I know nomass and Joel Sherman and everyone else loves to bash Pavano -- mostly based on American males' absurd sense of "machismo" and "being a man" (though most people I meet, especially the most vocal ones about being a "man," are cowards) -- but questioning his "butt" injury is pretty silly. It's not about his butt -- it's about his back and shoulder. He hurt his left buttock, which means he couldn't plant his leg to pitch, which means he would have changed his motion and hurt himself just like he did last year. I kept watch of Pavano in '04 after he beat us in the World Series because I thought he had good stuff. That '04 season wasn't a fluke. He's talented. And a healthy Pavano -- as opposed to an ineffective Wright -- could be the thing that helps win this division for the Yankees. The sooner he's back, the better off the team is. Like Giambi in '04, I think Pavano will surprise people. And it doesn't hurt that all he has to do is pitch better than Wright.

And in really important pitching news: Philip Hughes makes his AA debut tomorrow night. Which makes him one step closer to joining the big club.

My beef with Pavano has more to do with the fact that he (allegedly) told people he wished he would have signed with the Tigers rather than the Yankees. I mean, what a slap in the face, the Tigers! His gripe was the constant media attention and so forth, but it's not like he couldn't have seen that coming. That said, I certainly welcome him back if he can pitch to his 04 numbers or thereabouts.

I don't have a beef with Pavano, I'm just not expecting too much from him. His career says not to expect too much more than league average from him. I'll be glad if he becomes an ace quality starter, but I'm not going to expect it.