...and thereby solidifies the Twins 4th starting option behind Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker.Pavano had a fairly decent 2009 and arbitration will likely to get him at least 6 million bones for 2010. This may seem steep, considering that's likely more than the 2010 salaries for the 1-2 and 3 starters combined, but I still think it's a good buy. He pitched to contact and managed to induce a ton of ground balls. He didn't walk too many hitters and his ate up innings like a veteran should. In addition, he provides that "leadership" intangible that SABR can't measure...you know...the one that the Twins misguidedly threw money at the likes of Livan Hernandez, Sydney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz to get. Dude can still pitch a bit. And if the article is right, and the Twins and Pavano work out a deal before the arbitration hearing, the incentive-laden contract will push Pavano to reproduce 2009's comeback numbers.
Photo credit to some dude who's picture was on Google Images.
