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I don't think that's mean at all. Mean would be if you had hoped his arms get permanently dismembered from his fragile body, so he doesn't pitch again, he doesn't drive again, and he doesn't do anything where he can hurt himself or anyone else. I don't think you said that, so that does not make you mean in my book.

I agree w/ everything you said, tell him to disappear and never come back to the Yankee clubhouse or anywhere near the team. He got his money, be gone.

Now back to the Yankee game....it's the 9th and Mo is coming in. Go Yanks!!!!

I cannot disagree Steve. What a waste of millions and millions of dollars. Dollars the fans paid.

This whole Pavano thing has been beoynd absurd.

Now Tommy John surgery? Where did this come from? The guy barely pitched. He went from injury to injury last year and was supposed to be OK. Now we hear that "the ligament to the elbow is pretty messed up." What exactly is going on here?

If I was The Boss, I would demand a full accounting from Pavano's camp, Cashman, the training staff and the medical staff about the progression of these injuries.

But you have to rehab the guy. A Yankee is a Yankee. You do everything you can so maybe he's tradeable as a long-term project in 2008. By giving him rehab you also make a statement to players and agents around the league that the Yankees stick by their people--even when they're diappointments.

Steve, that's ridiculous and inhumane. The Yankees knew Pavano was injury-prone when they signed him as a free agent. It's not like he's trying to get hurt and faking his injuries (as the softer-headed among us may believe). He's been injury-prone his whole career and he still is as a Yankee. No surprise.

I just want to second what Joel said: you don't throw a guy out and treat him like dirt just because he didn't perform well. He's a part of this organization, and he should be treated with respect. He didn't ask for this. And, as I said, it's not like the Yankees didn't know what they were getting.

Inhumane? The guy made 39 million dollars, never contributed to anything substantial and this is inhumane? Sorry, I don't think so.

The Yanks will pay for the surgery and the physical therapy. I don't think they are obligated to do anything more, that's humane to me. Inhumane would be if they took him out to the Bronx Terminal Market, shot him in the ass, and left him there to bleed to death. The Yankees are much nicer than that.

Cutting all ties with the man is admitting this was all a mistake and you just want to move on. Why beat a dead horse any longer.

You guys would make terrible managers in the corporate world. You don't support Pavano for his sake. You do it for the next free agent you want to sign.

How you treat your "employees" is critical in attracting premier talent. If you're known as a "good" organisation that people want to work for, you might not always have to have the highest salary.

Being petty and spiteful is fun, but counter-productive.

Some of you guys are missing the point. It's not "don't rehab him as punishment for 2005-2007." It's "don't rehab him because, by the time the rehab is complete, he'll be a Free Agent - and gone."

Think of it this way:

You buy a turtle that has a known life-expectancy of 4 years. In the first 2 1/2 years that you have it, it's sick a lot. But, it's your turtle, you love it, so, you keep bringing it to the doctor.

However, after 2 1/2 years, you find out that the turtle needs major surgery - and he will not be 100% again until 1 1/2 years after the surgery (which will end, coincidently, just as the turtle is scheduled to die).

Now, the turtle doctor says to you "You're kind and loving to have this surgery now. But, FYI, for your turtle to be 100%, 18 months from now, you're going to have to feed it $20 a day. Yes, you have to let him eat a $20 bill, everyday."

The doctor continues with "But, if you don't feed him the twenty, he'll still live. And, he'll continue to get better - - but, he won't be like a 'brand new' turtle after the 18 months."

So, what would you do? Would you sink the dough into a turtle, to make him 100%, just to watch him kick the bucket on the day that he's 100%?

You might do it if you're an idiot, IMHO. And, if the Yankees do this with Carl, they're idiots too.

Remember, it takes 18 months to comeback from TJS - and that's when a pitcher is trying. In 18 months from now, Pavano's contract is up. He's a dead turtle, and should be treated as such.

Again, this is not about the past - it's about the limited future here.

Some of you guys are missing the point. It's not "don't rehab him as punishment for 2005-2007." It's "don't rehab him because, by the time the rehab is complete, he'll be a Free Agent - and gone."
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It worked with Lieber and Dotel. Mike Witt blew out his elbow shortly after he signed. Pascual Perez went under the knife his first month as a Yankee.

Given the state of pitching in MLB, Pavano will land a job somewhere.

This is all probably moot, I'm sure the Yankees are required to rehab him per the CBA.

And yes, Steve, I understand your point. It is a bad investment, because the Yankees will get no ROI. However, I submit you do it for secondary considerations. What is the cost REALLY going to be, really?

Pay for his surgery and after-care, rehab him, but do not, under any circumstances, let him near a Yankee dugout again.

Even so, he was hurt while pitching for the Yanks, so they would or should have an obligation to "rehab" him.

This has to be the worst FA signing ever. I don't put the blame on anyone not Pavano or Cashman but just the way it turned out has been horrible. Usually guys will sign big contracts and at worst they pitch badly but I can't recall someone being injured for the whole contract basically. Even the Mets got a few years out of Pedro.

This has to be the worst FA signing ever.
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I think there may be a few people in Colorado that may disagree with you.

Mike Hampton? He only lasted two years there and he actually pitched two full seasons, then they got rid of him. I'm saying it's got to be the worst, since Pavano has barely been ON the mound, so he hasn't even had a chance to be bad. At least Hampton ate some innings for Colorado.