Four contenders deal with injuries, question marks

	Carl Pavano hasn't made a regular-season appearance since June 2005, but injuries may force the Yankees to use him as their Opening Day starter. AP

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The dispatches from down here in spring training are almost all positive. Everyone is smiling, and everyone is hopeful. Even if you're a Devil Ray or a Royal, you're an optimist.

But things do tend to go wrong, and teams do fall down. Even teams with legitimate expectations, real talent and high payrolls can start to look vulnerable by the end of spring. Usually the cause is one of two things; either a) the team suffers multiple untimely injuries, or b) it just isn't what it's cracked up to be. Four thought-to-be legitimate contenders are hurting right now.

1. Yankees

For baseball's highest-profile, best-paid team, spring fun suddenly has turned to travesty.

The oft-ridiculed Carl Pavano is not only winning high praise for making it through spring training with no significant new pains (two legal proceedings, but no pains) but has also likely captured the coveted Opening Day assignment. This is the case despite doing nothing extraordinary this spring (0-1, 5.84 ERA). Should he remain healthy between now and April 2, it appears he will be starting on Opening Day after 643 days on the sidelines.

Pavano's surprise ascension comes after Andy Pettitte's back injury sidelined him more than a week and Chien-Ming Wang's Grade 1 hamstring tear knocked him out until late April, perhaps even May. The Cy Young runner-up's injury was variously described as a "tweak," "discomfort" or probably "cramps" in initial reports but has turned out to be more serious.

Making matters worse, Jeff Karstens, the obvious rotation replacement, came down with elbow tightness Sunday while allowing six runs to the Tigers. If it matters, unlike Pettitte and Wang, at least Karstens didn't hurt himself while working out, warming up or cooling down; he was actually pitching.

Pettitte, it was revealed recently, came back to the Yankees sounder than they could have hoped. General manager Brian Cashman said that the MRI of Pettitte's left elbow showed that the elbow was much improved from when he left (team doctors actually said it was good enough for a five-year deal, not just one or two, according to Cashman.) If his back allows, Pettitte could still possibly be employed as the season's second-day pitcher. Yet there remains considerable behind-the-scenes concern regarding the back.

Pavano's assignment is a shock, but so are these injuries. Pettitte never has been felled by back trouble before. And as for Wang, it's highly unusual for a pitcher to be floored by a hamstring pull while doing drills during training. As you'd imagine, the point of supervised running sessions is to prevent injuries, not cause them.

The Yankees have had some turnover in personnel in what they now, strangely enough, call their department of "performance enhancement" (unfortunate choice of words on their Web site -- isn't "performance enhancement" getting guys in trouble now?). Yet it's also possible the three pitching injuries could be nothing more than incredibly horrible luck.

Cashman looks wise not to "sell low" on Pavano with the rotation now in disarray. Although it must be noted that the Yankees have always weathered bad springs and even occasional horrendous starts in the Joe Torre era.

Still, the pitching injuries to their two best starters could have another major ramification. Their pursuit of Roger Clemens already was hot and heavy. But while the need for Clemens may increase, barring a new, blow-him-away offer, their likelihood to sign him probably did not.

Part of Clemens' attraction of coming to the Yankees is surely to pitch 1) for a certain playoff entrant, and 2) alongside his buddy Pettitte. If either of those factors are jeopardized early, it's possible it could hinder their chances to lure back Clemens.