...centerfield prospect Brett Jackson, who made his major league debut late last season, has received high marks from manager Dale Svuem after retooling his swing with Svuem and the team's hitting coaches, James Rowson and Rob Deer, in the offseason to cut down on his strikeouts.

14-year veteran starting pitcher Carl Pavano was let go this offseason after four seasons with the Minnesota Twins and is still in search of a job. But his current worries go beyond baseball — “I’m just lucky to be alive,” he told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune‘s Joe Christensen this week.

After ramping up his workouts and free-agent negotiations with teams following the holidays, Pavano had a “freak accident” while shoveling snow at his Vermont home on Jan. 12, according to the report.

The 37-year-old slipped on ice and fell onto a shovel handle, which jammed into his midsection. Four days later, he felt “sudden wave of abdominal pain and nausea” — he had lacerated his spleen.

By the time he finally had surgery to remove the spleen, on Jan. 19, doctors first had to remove 6 1/2 liters of blood from his chest cavity.

He said he lost 35 pounds in three weeks. At least he can laugh about it now. At 230 pounds, he’s as trim as he was as a rookie, he said, but too weak to lift his kids, ages 3 and 4.

…

By Saturday night, Pavano’s blood count had dropped dangerously low, and one of his lungs collapsed, he said. Alissa called her doctor in Florida, seeking another opinion, and he urged them to find a trauma center.

“He said I was on borrowed time,” Pavano said. “So we went to Hartford Hospital. That’s the No. 1 trauma center in the area.”

Doctors there gave Pavano a blood transfusion and performed splenic embolization, blocking the blood supply to his spleen.

“I was hours away from going into cardiac arrest and probably wouldn’t even be here,” Pavano said.

Pavano, who became notorious in New York for spending so much time on the disabled list after signing with the Yankees, will have to wait for his incision to heal and then work for several weeks or even months to regain his strength, but is determined to pitch again.

The 37-year-old owns a 108-107 career record and 4.39 ERA.

Jeffrey Loria quite possibly can't even give it away. (Getty Images)

In the service of achieving a nonembarrassing turnout for opening day, the Marlins are resorting to desperate measures. How desperate? Chris Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel sets the scene. The pathetic, vacated scene ...

An indication of the difficulty the Marlins are having attracting fans for their second season at Marlins Park, they are offering a free ticket to any game in April or May with the purchase of one to the home opener April 8 against the Braves.

Last year anyone who didn't purchase a season-ticket plan had to enter a lottery for a slim chance of scoring a ticket to the inaugural opener.

The next step, I suppose, is just giving the things away, or at least selling them in tandem with 50 Free Hot Sales Leads.

Your 2013 Marlins: the perpetual joke that is only occasionally funny. Like this occasion, for instance.