Carl Pavano ruptures spleen in fall while shoveling snow, will be sidelined 6 to 8 weeks

You almost get the feeling Carl Pavano would be better off never leaving the house again.

Not even to get the newspaper.

The oft-injured right-hander, who once landed — figuratively — on the disabled list after falling — literally — on his buttocks in a spring training game, has fallen once again, and this time has suffered a pretty significant injury as a result.

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the fall happened while Pavano was shoveling snow out of the driveway of his Vermont home and the unfortunate result is a ruptured spleen, which will reportedly sideline the 37-year-old for 6 to 8 weeks.

That must have been one nasty and/or awkward fall to result in that type of injury. Wow. And ouch.

Obviously this is a tough break, as it would be for any player this close to spring training, but it's especially so for the unlucky Pavano, who as of this moment remains unsigned. Given the timetable on his recovery, he won't be ready to begin any kind of throwing and conditioning program until mid-March at the earliest. You can probably tack on another 4 to 6 weeks before he'd conceivably be ready to compete or contribute at the big league level, so his chances of signing before opening day likely just hit the ground with him.

Of course Pavano is also coming off a — you guessed it — injury plagued season with the Minnesota Twins that was ultimately cut short due to shoulder issues. He posted a 6.00 ERA in only 63 innings, so it's not like he was in a strong leveraging position or a guaranteed deal was likely to fall in his lap anyway. But it's a huge setback nonetheless.

Then again, the Colorado Rockies and New York Mets were the two teams showing the most interest in Pavano before this news broke. Given their situations, maybe they'll see this as a chance to buy even lower.

Who knows?

But honestly, I think the only question that really needs to be answered right now is simply:

Why, Carl Pavano? Why?

Also, get well soon.

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