Now that the Yankees have dotted the "i's" and crossed the "t's" on the Teixeira contract and given him Jason Giambi's old position and jersey number, Giambi has probably (by now) seen the writing on the wall.

That's why he's going back home.

The Oakland A's have announced they have agreed in principle (and pending physical) on a one year deal worth $4 million. The team also has an option for the 2010 season (worth $6.5 million) with a $1.25 million buyout option.

And in other news, good ridance to the multi-million-dollar-mistake known as Carl Pavano. The Cleveland Indians, after an extensive physical (and by God it better have been extensive for their sake) agreed on a one year contract with the oft injured RHP, worth $1.5 million.

The contract has $5.3 million in performance bonuses.

No word yet on whether running his ferrari into the back of a garbage truck is one of the incentives.

With the first round of General Manager meetings in full swing, Brian Cashman and company declined to pick up the team options on both Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano's contracts.

Giambi will receive $5 million for the buyout and Pavano cashes in another $1.95 million. This, obviously, isn't the first time the Yankees have given Pavano money for doing absolutely nothing.

The moves free up some cash for the Yankees, as the two spots held by Giambi and Pavano free up close to $28 million dollars.

Some sources think that Giambi may return to Oakland, as reported by ESPN:

In a sign that Giambi may want to return to the Athletics, Oakland announced Tuesday that Bob Alejo will become its director of strength and conditioning. Alejo was Oakland's strength and conditioning coach from 1993-2001 and followed Giambi to the Yankees, working for Giambi personally and for the team during some years.

by Chris Lima
River Avenue News

Congratulations to Carl Pavano, owner of an impressive 4-2 record this season, and proud parent of a 5.77 ERA.

Pavano, in his last start before hitting the free agent market, lasted 3.2 innings giving up five runs, including a home run to Vernon Wells.

Team's interested in acquiring Pavano can rest assured that he is fully rested, throwing maybe 30 innings in the past four seasons. Ignore his history of irrational injuries, they were caused by having access to an irrational amount of money.

And please, if you're interested in Pavano's services, ignore that ridiculously high earned run average. 5.77 is an adjusted era, partially because the Yankee's score keeping official refused to give errors to Bomber fielders, where they were obviously due. If Bobby Abreu had been playing where he was supposed to (Tier Box, Right Field, Row F, Seat 3) he would have been in position to field half the balls hit off Pavano.

So, from all of us here at River Avenue News, we'd like to wish Mr. Pavano good luck in his future endevors, wherever they may take him.

And if that path happens to wind up having him sign a multi year deal with the Yankees for more than 15 cents, we've got a writer on staff with AA Batteries and one heck of an arm.

Carl Pavano, RHP (4-1, 4.99)
Yankees (86-71)
Roy Halladay, RHP (19-11, 2.81)
Blue Jays (83-74)

Scouting Report:
Yankees: Pavano is set to make his seventh start of the year for the Yankees following his late August return, taking on the Blue Jays as the Yankees complete their season series with Toronto. Pavano has won his past two outings despite not making it through the sixth inning, beating the Rays and Orioles. Pavano also faced the Blue Jays on Aug. 29 at Yankee Stadium, limiting the Jays to one run over six innings in a 2-1 Yankees victory.

Blue Jays: The ace of the Jays' staff notched his team-leading 19th victory of the season in his last start. Against Boston, Halladay allowed three runs on six hits over six innings. He was not particularly sharp, though, as he walked three batters -- the most since July 29 against Tampa Bay, a span of 10 starts. Against the Yankees, Halladay will aim for his 20th win of the season. It would mark only the second time in his career that he has reached the plateau, with the first time coming in 2003 when Halladay won 22 games en route to collecting the American League Cy Young Award. He is 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA lifetime against New York.

Radhames Liz, RHP (6-5, 6.90)
Orioles (67-82)
Carl Pavano, RHP (3-1, 5.26)
Yankees (80-71)


Scouting Report:
Orioles: Liz spun his best start of the year against the Twins in his last outing. The right-hander tossed eight scoreless innings, allowing just five hits. He issued only one walk, while striking out four and needing 109 pitches. In three career appearances against the Yankees, Liz has allowed four runs over a total of nine innings.

Yankees: Pavano held the Rays to four runs (three earned) through 5 1/3 innings to pick up his third win in five starts for the Yankees this season. He gave up just five hits, striking out three with two walks. Pavano exited the game with a stiff left hip after he landed awkwardly following a throw. He said later that he was frustrated he has not been able to last deeper into games. His 96 throws marked his highest pitch total since making his Major League return Aug. 23.

Javier Vazquez, RHP (12-13, 4.13)
White Sox (83-65)
Carl Pavano, RHP (3-1, 5.26)
Yankees (79-70)

Scouting Report:
White Sox: Vazquez will likely be pitching on short rest in the finale of the Yankees series. He was brilliant in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Tigers on Sunday. He threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, striking out eight and giving up just three hits. He faced the Yankees once this year in an outing he would much rather forget. The right-hander gave up six runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings to pick up the loss.

Yankees: Mussina delivered a solid performance against the Rays until he fell into trouble in the fifth inning and could not escape a bases-loaded jam. He was tagged for five earned runs -- his highest total in a game since July 28, and his five innings marked his shortest outing since the same date. Mussina's pitch count built up to 100 before he exited the game. He will look to bounce back in his final start at Yankee Stadium. Mussina picked up the win in his only appearance against the White Sox this season. He held Chicago to just two runs on four hits through seven innings.

Edwin Jackson, RHP (11-10, 4.06)
Rays (87-57)
Carl Pavano, RHP (2-1, 5.31)
Yankees (77-69)

Scouting Report:
Rays: Jackson took his 10th loss of the season Monday night against the Red Sox when he allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings. Personifying how strong and powerful Jackson can be was the fact his 94th pitch of the game registered at 99 mph. If Jackson is locating his 97-mph fastball, his other pitches can work well, particularly his slider. Jackson is 2-3 with a 4.84 ERA in 12 career appearances against the Yankees.

Yankees: Pavano will get another shot to figure out a few command issues on Sunday as the Yankees and Rays wrap up their three-game weekend series. Pavano won his first two starts after returning from Tommy John surgery but has had intermittent problems with both his command and velocity. He allowed two home runs and five earned runs in a 5 1/3-inning start on Monday at Anaheim, suffering his first loss.

Carl Pavano, RHP (2-0, 4.20)
Yankees (76-67)
Jon Garland, RHP (12-8, 4.64)
Angels (86-56)

Scouting Report:
Yankees: Making his third start since his long absence, Pavano served up a long two-run homer to Gabe Gross in the fourth inning on Wednesday and faced two batters in the fifth before exiting, taking a no-decision in his 79-pitch outing. He allowed six hits, walking two and striking out one. Pavano took a harsher tone in evaluating his performance, saying, "I think I cheated my team." He is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in two career starts against the Angels, in 2003 and 2005.

Angels: Garland was hard on himself after yielding five earned runs across six innings against the Tigers on Wednesday night, but he was in position to get the win if the Tigers hadn't rallied late against the Angels' bullpen. A tear in his right thumbnail created blood, disrupting Garland in the second inning, but he stayed in the game and got through six innings against a dangerous lineup. Garland is 4-5 in 10 career starts against the Yankees with a 4.29 ERA.

Carl Pavano, RHP (2-0, 3.27)
Yankees (74-64)
Edwin Jackson, RHP (11-8, 3.81)
Rays (84-52)

Scouting Report:
Yankees: Pavano delivered six impressive innings Friday night to pick up his second win of the season in as many attempts, and his first at Yankee Stadium since 2005. He quieted the Blue Jays' bats, holding them to one run and just three hits. He recorded one walk and one strikeout. The strikeout came against the final batter he faced before exiting after 72 pitches. Pavano said he had to work throughout the game to keep the ball low, but he retired 18 of the 22 batters he faced, including 12 straight hitters. He has not faced Tampa Bay this season.

Rays: Jackson picked up his career-high 11th win of the season Thursday night against the Blue Jays when he allowed just one run in seven innings. Jackson threw 70 of 106 pitches for strikes and scattered six hits with two strikeouts for his sixth win in seven games. The young flamethrower is at his best when he is locating his 97 mph fastball, which sets up an array of other pitches, particularly his slider.

Carl Pavano went six innings, only allowing one run, as he improved to 2-0 this season.

Please don't give him a new contract....

New York Yankees
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
J Damon CF	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	.313
D Jeter SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.295
B Abreu RF	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	.298
A Rodriguez 3B	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.307
J Giambi 1B	2	0	0	1	0	2	0	.250
C Ransom 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.750
X Nady LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	1	.308
H Matsui DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.304
R Cano 2B	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.269
I Rodriguez C	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.277
Totals	28	2	7	2	1	8	8
BATTING 2B: B Abreu (35, A Burnett); R Cano (27, A Burnett) RBI: B Abreu (83), J Giambi (82) SF: J Giambi GIDP: D Jeter, A Rodriguez Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: D Jeter 1, X Nady 1 Team LOB: 4
BASERUNNING SB: J Damon (24, 2nd base off A Burnett/R Barajas)
FIELDING DP: 1 (D Jeter-R Cano-J Giambi).

New York Yankees
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Pavano (W, 2-0)	6.0	3	1	1	1	1	0	72-42	3.27
B Bruney (H, 6)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4-2	2.31
D Marte (H, 7)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	5-4	7.15
J Veras	0.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	10-5	3.64
E Ramirez (H, 5)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5-3	3.47
M Rivera (S, 32)	1.2	1	0	0	0	3	0	17-13	1.46
Totals	9.0	5	1	1	2	6	0	113-69
PITCHING Batters faced: C Pavano 21; B Bruney 1; D Marte 2; J Veras 2; E Ramirez 1; M Rivera 6 Ground Balls-Fly Balls: C Pavano 4-13; B Bruney 0-1; D Marte 0-1; J Veras 0-0; E Ramirez 0-0; M Rivera 2-0

Scoring Summary
			TOR	NYY
	4th	B Abreu doubled to deep left center, J Damon scored.	0	1
	4th	J Giambi hit sacrifice fly to left, B Abreu scored, A Rodriguez to second.	0	2
	6th	M Scutaro singled to center, T Snider scored.	1	2

A.J. Burnett, RHP (16-9, 4.58)
Blue Jays (67-63)
Carl Pavano, RHP (1-0, 5.40)
Yankees (70-60)

Scouting Report:
Blue Jays: On Sunday, Burnett walked away with a no-decision against the Red Sox, though the right-hander squandered two leads in Toronto's loss. Burnett allowed five runs on seven hits, including a pair of home runs, with seven strikeouts and three walks. Burnett raised his American League-leading strikeout total to 185, but he gave up five runs for the first time in nine starts. Prior to Sunday, Burnett was 7-1 with a 2.89 ERA in his previous eight outings. He is 6-2 with a 2.63 ERA in nine career games against the Yankees.

Yankees: Pavano made his triumphant return to the Yankees rotation on Aug. 23, after over a year hiatus from the Major Leagues. Pavano threw five innings, allowing three runs, and walked away with the win in the Yankees' 5-3 victory over the Orioles. Pavano, who has suffered through a laundry list of injuries during his tenure in New York, was coming off Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. Pavano will be looking to extend his outing in his next start (he only threw 90 pitches in Baltimore) as well as improve his command.

Carl Pavano has got a win streak going, even though its been 501 days in between the two wins. Pavano pitched well against the Orioles last night, going five innings en route to a 5-3 Yankee win. Rivera picked up the save (#30 on the season) and Giambi and Matsui both homered.

New York Yankees
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
J Damon CF	4	1	1	0	1	0	1	.311
D Jeter SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.296
B Abreu RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.293
A Rodriguez 3B	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	.309
J Giambi 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0	0	.253
C Ransom 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
X Nady LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.316
H Matsui DH	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.312
R Cano 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.263
I Rodriguez C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.285
Totals	35	5	8	5	1	9	8
BATTING 2B: A Rodriguez (29, J Guthrie) HR: J Giambi (25, 3rd inning off J Guthrie 1 on, 2 Out); H Matsui (9, 7th inning off J Guthrie 0 on, 0 Out) RBI: A Rodriguez (78), J Giambi 3 (76), H Matsui (38) 2-out RBI: A Rodriguez, J Giambi 3 Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: B Abreu 1, H Matsui 1 Team LOB: 5
FIELDING DP: 1 (R Cano).

New York Yankees
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Pavano (W, 1-0)	5.0	7	3	3	1	5	0	91-54	5.40
B Bruney (H, 5)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	29-19	2.11
J Veras (H, 8)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	21-13	2.72
M Rivera (S, 30)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10-6	1.57
Totals	9.0	9	3	3	1	9	0	151-92
PITCHING HBP: K Millar (By C Pavano); M Mora (By C Pavano) Batters faced: C Pavano 24; B Bruney 7; J Veras 4; M Rivera 3 Ground Balls-Fly Balls: C Pavano 5-4; B Bruney 2-3; J Veras 1-0; M Rivera 2-0

Scoring Summary
			NYY	BAL
	1st	A Rodriguez doubled to deep center, J Damon scored, A Rodriguez to third advancing on throw.	1	0
	1st	J Giambi reached on infield single to second, A Rodriguez scored.	2	0
	2nd	J Castro hit sacrifice fly to center, L Scott scored, K Millar to third, J Payton to second.	2	1
	2nd	B Roberts grounded out to shortstop, K Millar scored, J Payton to third.	2	2
	2nd	N Markakis singled to center, J Payton scored.	2	3
	3rd	J Giambi homered to center, A Rodriguez scored.	4	3
	7th	H Matsui homered to right center.	5	3

August 22, 2008
Stony Point, NY
by Chris Lima

Happy Birthday to Phil Lima, a loyal reader of River Avenue News!

Lima is the father of River Avenue News Founder and Writer Chris Lima, and for his birthday, the New York Yankees have given him a gift of his lifetime.

They're starting Carl Pavano.

You would think that all that Mr. Lima has been through with the Yankees, cheering them on as a baby during the 50's, growing up watching Mantle and Maris in the 60's, suffering through the 80's with his two baby sons, and enjoying the 90's with his teenagers, you would think the Yankees could do better than start Pavano.

You would think that after bringing the local day camp to Yankee games during the summer for the past 30 some odd years, after bringing family, friends, and co-workers to countless games in the Bronx (yes, even before the Bronx was cleaned up), you would think that the Yankees could do better for his birthday, thank start Carl Pavano.

Here's an interesting stat; if the Yankees let my Father throw out the ceremonial first pitch in tomorrow's game (even though they're in Baltimore), my Father would be statistically, emotionally (for the Bombers), and "fan-ally" better in every way shape or form than Carl Pavano ever could have been for the New York Yankees.

So, in celebrating my Father's birthday, and in hopes that either Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman, one of the Steinbrenners, or a parked garbage truck (in front of Pavano's car) reads this article before first pitch tomorrow, please do me a huge favor: Don't start Pavano. My father deserves better.

Carl Pavano, RHP (0-0, -.--)
Yankees (67-60)
Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (10-9, 3.15)
Orioles (61-65)

Scouting Report:
Yankees: Pavano will start for the Yankees on Saturday, set to complete his return to the Major Leagues after undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery last year. Pavano is in the final year of a four-year, $39.95 million contract with the Yankees, which has been marred by various injuries. Pavano has appeared in just 19 games with New York since the beginning of his deal, including two starts last April before he was shut down for the season, and underwent surgery on June 5.

Orioles: Guthrie did not get the win for the first time in four starts his last time out, an eventual 6-3 loss to the Red Sox, but the right-hander did not pitch poorly and walked away with a no-decision. Guthrie struggled in the second inning -- allowing two solo homers in the frame -- but he was able to pull himself together and get through seven for his 19th quality start of the season. Guthrie now leads the league in that category and has given up just six runs in his last five starts. He is 1-1 this season against the Yankees, allowing three earned runs in the loss and just one in the victory.

White Plains, NY
by Chris Lima
River Avenue News

According to multiple sources, the New York Yankees might be able to find a little boost courtesy of some players making their way back from the disabled list.

As early as tomorrow, Yankee skipper Joe Girardi has hinted that injured outfielder Hideki Matsui may return to the lineup: (from MLB.com)

Matsui had 15 simulated at-bats on Sunday in Tampa, Fla., getting his early work in after playing in three games for the Class A Tampa Yankees.

With his left knee showing no signs of swelling, the Yankees are optimistic that Matsui -- out since June 22 with inflammation -- may be able to rejoin the big league club as it opens a six-game road trip on Tuesday at Toronto.

"It's a big bat to get back in the lineup," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Hideki has obviously been an integral part of this lineup the last four or five years. He'll be a welcome addition."

Matsui had 11 at-bats against right-handed pitching on Sunday and four against left-handers. He has logged eight total at-bats in game action for Tampa, stroking two hits -- including a home run -- and walking twice.

The Yankees have also hinted that a Saturday call-up may bring either Philip Hughes or Carl Pavano to help the back end of their rotation.

Hughes has been having mixed results while pitching for Scranton, recovering from a stress fracture in his rib cage. Pavano, finalizing the last year of his four year mega million bust deal, looks to salvage any shred of dignity he may have left.