Sometimes players don't suck, they're just on the wrong team: Carl Pavano

Ok, I just had to put this out there, that I am constantly amazed how a player can be mediocre to downright bad on one team, get traded to another, and suddenly look like he belongs at the professional level again.

I use Carl Pavano as an example. He played for the Yankees for 4 seasons and in that time, made only 26 starts (one of which I was actually in the stands to see...lucky me) ... I think some fans forgot he was even on the team.

In any case, he now pitches for the Twins and has gone 14-9. That's not fantastic, but it's pretty decent. It's also only 3 fewer games in one season in Minnesota than in 4 seasons total in New York, so right there, that's a marked improvement.

I guess it's not completely insane, that a player could be on the "wrong" team, especially when that team is a New York team. Some players are just not cut out for New York - not the team expectations, not the media scrutiny, and not the fan expectations. As phenomenal a player as they might be, they might always be a fish out of water in New York. Randy Johnson is another example. Awesome pitcher who became just okay on the Yankees and who, you could tell, realized too late he didn't really want to be here.

Anyway, I always inexplicably liked Pavano, even when he was our number one benchwarmer and always liked to see him do well, so I'm glad to see he's earning his money in a more productive and winning fashion on a right team than he did on the wrong one.