Yankee Failures: Episode 3 - Kevin Brown

Overpaid, overrated, and mediocre. Is there any better representative of the 21st century Yankees than Kevin Brown?

The Bombers traded for Brown after the 2003 season. Desperate for pitching, the Yanks were more than willing to pick up the $31.4 million owed Brown for two more seasons of work. Hell, they even threw in some cash to sweeten the deal for the Dodgers.

New York got 14 wins and 13 losses out of Brown, to go with a 4.95 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, and only 205.1 innings. That wouldn't be a bad SINGLE season, for a #4 pitcher making $2 to $4 million. But not two seasons for a guy making $15.7M a year.

Brown's biggest disappointment was in the 2004 ALCS. He was one of the biggest contributors to the Red Sox miracle comeback. In Game 3, he allowed 4 runs in 2 innings, but was saved by the Yankees' 19 run offensive onslaught. He wasn't so fortunate in Game 7...

For it was Kevin Brown that allowed 5 runs to start Game 7. It was Kevin Brown who gave up a 2 run David Ortiz bomb in the 1st. It was Kevin Brown, who loaded the bases for Johnny Damon's 2nd inning Grand Slam.



Red Sox fans owe a debt of gratitude to Kevin Brown, for being such a big part of recent Yankee failure. Brown was 14-9 in 2003, with a 2.39 ERA. But when he came to New York, he became a failure.

Thanks, Kevin. We couldn't have done it without you.

-The Commodore

Yankee Failures: Episode 2 - Ruben Sierra

Sierra has the distinction of being a two time Yankee failure. He spent the end of 1995 and start of 1996 in the Bronx. He came back and played for the Yanks from 2003 to 2005.



In his first stint, Sierra played 152 games with the Yankees, hitting 18 homeruns, and hitting .259. He struck out 92 times.

His second stint was longer but worse. Desperate for power, the Yankees reacquired him in the middle of the 2003 season. In 231 more games for New York, he hit 25 homeruns, hit .249. He knocked in 125 runs.

Sierra wasn't a monumental failure like Jose Contreras or Jeff Weaver were. But the fact that the Yankees were so desperate that they got (and kept) a 37 year old over the hill slugger who couldn't hit for average just goes to show how sad the Yankees are this century.

-The Commodore

Yankee Failures: Episode 1 - Carl Pavano

The Red Sox are making their final scheduled trip to Yankee Stadium. And in honor of the Big Ballpark in the Bronx, as well as its 85 year tenants, I present a series of posts documenting some of the biggest, most expensive, and funniest failed Yankees in recent history. We'll have all your old favorites, and some you may have forgotten about.

We start the series with Carl Pavano.



Pavano is in the last year of a 4 year, $39.5M deal with the Yanks. In 2005, he hit the DL with shoulder problems. In '06, a "bruised buttocks" caused him to sit (or stand) on the sidelines. He broke his ribs in a car accident on August 15, 2006. But he didn't tell the Yankees about it until the 28th, right after they told him that he was going to be activated off the DL.

Mike Mussina publicly questioned Pavano's desire to play.

"[Pavano] is only looking at it from his perspective, we're looking at it from our perspective. We want him to go out there and show us that he wants to do this."



Pavano wound up rehabbing his arm in Tampa. But never visited his teammates whenever they were in town to play the Rays.

Pavano is a free agent at the end of 2008. In 4 years with the Yankees, he's made 20 starts, gone 6-6, thrown 116.1 innings, with a 4.80 ERA. The Yankees have been in the playoffs every year since he signed, but he hasn't made an appearance in October.

He's been paid about $2 million per start. $6.6 million per win. $340,000 per inning, $113,000 per out, $608,000 per strikeout.



Carl Pavano will go down in history for three things...

1. Being traded from Boston to Montreal for Pedro Martinez
2. Giving up Mark McGwire's 70th homerun
3. Being a Yankee failure

-The Commodore