CARL Pavano is nearing a feat that would awe David Blaine.
If he can just hold out a few more weeks, the righty will have missed an entire year without ever having surgery. Talk about disappearing acts.
His progression from flat ground to halfway up the mound to pitching rubber has advanced with all the speed of an Everest-climbing expedition. I expect to see him pictured with a sherpa and a yak by his side, not Billy Connors.
He makes a Single-A rehab start today. But beware of optimism.
Pavano’s potential returns have been like an object in a rearview mirror, appearing closer than they really are.
Pavano has become the face of what might very well be the most disastrous free-agent class ever, the group from the 2004-05 offseason that has mostly defined money for nothing. With the sport returned to strong financial footing, organizations reacted by spending like drunken sailors. The result is the Enron of offseasons. If they could, teams would take a mulligan on roughly $1 billion they invested unwisely.
The Yanks were major offenders with Pavano (4 years, $39.95 million), Jaret Wright (3 years, $21M) and Tony Womack (2 years, $4M) – and that does not even include the $32-million extension they used as a bribe to get Mr. Happy, Randy Johnson, to accept a trade. To date, the Mets have the best sign of that offseason in Pedro Martinez (4 years, $53M). However, Carlos Beltran (7 years, $119M) has raised enough doubt if his durability, leading-man DNA and talent warrant the largest contract in Met history.
Beltran also received the most of any player from an offseason in which the majority of multi-year deals fall into one of these unenviable categories:
THE DEGRADED
Perhaps the Dodgers were even bigger losers than the Yanks. J.D. Drew (5 years, $55 million) is excelling this season, but only after another injurydevastated campaign. Derek Lowe (4 years, $36M) has pitched well, but is it well enough to humiliate the organization by shacking up with one of its broadcasters? Jeff Kent (2 years, $17M) finished 19th in the MVP voting, had his existing pact extended despite being 38 and responded this April by being one of the majors’ worst players.
Los Angeles retained Wilson Alvarez (2 years, $4M), who ended up retiring after more failure and injury, and Odalis Perez (3 years, $24M), who has been so bad for a season-plus that he might be bounced from the rotation.
At least the Dodgers shunned Adrian Beltre off of a career year. So Beltre (5 years, $65M) has become the bane of Seattle’s payroll and lineup.
Others who have brought nothing but on-field and financial plight to their teams include Arizona’s Russ Ortiz (4 years, $34M and now out of the rotation and on the DL); Cincinnati’s Eric Milton (3 years, $25.5M) and Paul Wilson (2 years, $8.2M), who both were terrible and now are on the DL; and Washington’s Cristian Guzman (4 years, $16.8 million), who was possibly the NL’s worst player last year and will miss this entire season with a shoulder injury.
THE FADED
These players have followed strong 2005 campaigns with poor and/or injury-filled seasons that diminishes their value: the White Sox’s Dustin Hermanson (2 years, $5.5M), Philadelphia’s Jon Lieber (3 years, $21M), San Francisco’s Mike Matheny (3 years, $10.5M), Minnesota’s Brad Radke (2 years, $18M), Seattle’s Richie Sexson (4 years, $50M), and Boston’s Matt Clement (3 years, $25.5M) and David Wells (2 years, $8M).
THE UPGRADED
These players are doing better than last year, but for how long: San Francisco’s Armando Benitez (3 years, $21.5M), the Angels’ Orlando Cabrera (4 years, $32M), Philadelphia’s Rheal Cormier (2 years, $4.75M) and Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez (5 years, $75M).
THE TRADED
Carlos Delgado (4 years, $52M) was very good last year, but did not help the Marlins get their new stadium.
Edgar Renteria (4 years, $40M) was so terrible that Boston kicked in $9 million to trade him to Atlanta, where he is again showing life. Womack was bad enough that Cincinnati waived him. Kris Benson (3 years, $22.5M), Vinny Castilla (2 years, $6.2M), David Dellucci (2 years, $1.8M), Steve Finley (2 years, $14M), Troy Glaus (4 years, $45M), Orlando Hernandez (2 years, $8M), Steve Kline (2 years, $5.5M), Corey Koskie (3 years, $17M), Doug Mirabelli (2 years, $3M) and Ron Villone (2 years, $4.2M) also all got dealt, mainly for making too much and doing too little.
Joel Sherman’s e-mail address is joel.sherman@nypost.com. “Birth of a Dynasty,” his 10-year retrospective examining how the Yankees soared to the 1996 championship, is available in bookstores everywhere.
DOWN THE LINE
Benitez’s Met legacy includes gift from Yanks
Perhaps Mets fans will have more than agita as a lasting memory of Armando Benitez.
As part of the July 2003 trade that sent Benitez across the Triborough, the Yanks gave the Mets a righty named Anderson Garcia. In nine relief outings at Double-A, Garcia had a 1.59 ERA, 15 strikeouts in 17 innings and was promoted to Triple-A, where he had worked 7 2/3 shutout innings. One admiring scout said, “He has a good arm.
He can get it up to 95 mph. He has a real chance to be a lateinning reliever in the majors.” Garcia’s Binghamton bullpen mate Henry Owens amazingly had 33 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings. Just consider that 33 of the 44 outs (75 percent) produced by the righty were strikeouts.
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It was just more than a year ago that Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang made Yankee debuts as GM Brian Cashman tried to remake the team away from its older, injured, rusty plight. Cano and Wang receive a lot of credit for helping to revitalize the Yankees and so does Aaron Small, whose Rocky-esque path from near-retirement to 10-0 certainly was stirring. But Marlins manager Joe Girardi, who was Joe Torre’s bench coach, says the “biggest addition” was Shawn Chacon, and not only because he went 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA after being obtained form Colorado. “He was energetic and he had an ‘Idon’tcare’ attitude on the mound; he came right at you,” Girardi said. “He had no fear. I think it rubbed off.” The loss of Jeff Bagwell is turning into a big gain for Houston in one surprising way.
Lance Berkman has taken over first base full-time and Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes said with admiration, “Not only is Berkman a great hitter, but he would get my early vote for Gold Glove.”
An AL official said if the gap remains wide between Minnesota and the front group of the White Sox, Tigers and Indians, “I can definitely see the Twins putting Torii Hunter on the trade market.”
JOEL SHER
