[Trader Mac]

I have a chance to pick up Pavano in a trade and am leary about picking up an injury prone pitcher. Is he over his arm problems or should I avoid him? The trade one guy offered me is Zeile and Pavano for K Robinson and Neugebauer. I am high on Neuge but it looks like it will take a year or two to get it all together. Still, am I giving up too much for two iffy players. I asked for Armas instead but he declined so this is where the trade stands.

[rlweiser831]

While I think Zeile is a huge upgrade over Robinson, I wouldn't want Pavano. I have him and he made his last start for me tonight. He's awful.

[Don Quixote]

Amen, rlweiser. He and Bobby Jones weren't so terrible at the beginning of the year, but after the last two weeks I've fallen into 11th in ERA in a 12-team league. I just sent in my transactions effective Tuesday, and I've reserved both of them, activating Neagle (a two-fer at coors, but what the heck) and Fassero, who may not kill me.

I also needed a replacement for Figueroa, who's on the DL, and I sent in a long list of MR guys, who may not hurt and may help.

It's all my fault. I had tried the middle/setup route before and come up short in wins (and Ks, which we use instead of WHIP), so I went with more lower-tier starters and got some early wins but killed my ERA.

Next, it's the trade route. the problem is that my three weakest categories are ERA, saves, and HRs, which don't blend together well.

Please, avoid Pavano, and look for a short-term replacement for Neugebauer, who missed his start tonight.

[John Hoyos]

Pavano and healthy are two words that may never be used in the same sentence. Obviously, Pavano's going through a rough stretch right now and the bottom line is that he (still) may not be completely healthy. I like Pavano and I still might do this deal only because the Rox are home the next 2 weeks. If you can afford to miss the steals Robinson would otherwise provide, I'd do this deal. I see Pavano and Neugebauer as equal risks. Pavano has more upside, while Neuge comes with a little less injury risk.

JM2C

[B-Fly]

I am a dissapointed Pavano owner as well. All the news I've seen says he's healthy and just going through a rough stretch. The problem is, we've never seen a healthy Pavano for a long enough strength to know whether his raw abilities translate into steady performance and production. I'm a bit worried, but in an NL-only league, I'd rather stick it out and hope he does what everyone thinks he can and should do, than give up to grab someother risk or flash-in-the-pan. If you're in a shallow league, he's not worth holding onto right now, because you've probably got good replacement options and he's not getting it done.

[Don Quixote]

I reserved both Pavano and Jones rather than releasing either or both of them. Starting pitchers are like gold in this league; the only ones available this week were Stull, Stark, Jennings, T. Smith, Simontacchi, Chacon, and whoever is going to occupy the fifth spot for St. Louis. Not exactly Murderers' Row, unless you want to murder your team ERA (and WHIP, if your league uses it).

I went the MR route instead. I knew this was probably going to happen, but I had to gamble on my pitching, as I froze only one SP (Dempster, $1) and almost every decent SP was frozen. I overpaid for Maddux, spent $17 on the unproven Ishii (good gamble so far), spent $6 on Pavano (shoot me now), $2 for Batista, and filled with $1 stuff like Jones and Neagle.

On the other hand, I'm in second place and I have a very nice offense, some of which will make excellent trade bait.

[joncarlos]

Add me to the list of frustrated pavano owners. I went with 7 starters this season, and most of them have struggled at some point. As a result, I have to guess which will hurt me the least from week to week.

Pavano wasn't very good at all in 2001 when he did pitch. His performance so far this season has been terrible and has made me wonder why I liked him so much in the first place. He'll be riding the pine until he proves himself useful in some way.

Don, I also own BJ Jones and this week I'm sitting both of them, starting Jose Cabrera and Darren Holmes in their places

[OaklandA's]

I'm still holding out hope for Pavano, with a start at LA coming up on Saturday. He really pitched well in 2000, and after coming back from an injury in 2001, his 4 starts to end the year were good.