Daily Loaf

(Photo by Googie Man via Wikipedia)

In pretty much every pitching category tracked by baseball, Scott Kazmir is the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays’  career leader. Starts, innings pitched, K’s, wins. Kazmir was the face of hope. Sure, there was Carl Crawford or Rocco Baldelli to show the speed and athleticism that the farm system had but, with all respect to them, Kazmir was on a different level. Baseball people know that you can’t really get anywhere without pitching. So even though you have horses at other positions, you need some guys on the bump to take care of you.

Kazmir was that guy from that fateful August day in 2004 when the skinny childlike sprout took the mound for the Rays for the first time.  So understandably people were a little shocked to hear his name in the rumors surrounding the MLB trade deadline earlier this year. “Sure, he isn’t pitching too well,” you would hear, “but he’ll straighten it out.” Now he’s out the door and people are shocked yet again. This time, though, there were some signs that Kaz still had “it” that we’d all come to love.

But such is life for a “small market” club. The circle of life, if you will. Kazmir came to the (Devil) Rays  in a trade that saw fan-fave-who-just-couldn’t-figure-it-all-out-or-stay-healthy Victor Zambrano head to the New York Metropolitans. Now Kazmir is gone and two young pups enter the (Devil) Rays farm system. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to quote you the immortal words of Sir Elton John:

It’s the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

But this isn’t the Pittsburgh Pirates trading someone like Nyjer Morgan for an impostor like Lastings Milledge (by the way, rule of thumb: if a guy gets sent down by the worst team in the majors the last two years, you shouldn’t trade FOR him).  The thing is, the (Devil) Rays needed to make this move for several reasons, not the least of which that Kazmir was not going to straighten himself out while in Tampa Bay.

You’ve heard all about the salary reasons, and you know about the circle of life, but the mental portion of the game is what makes this a great deal for both teams. As a good friend, authority on all things baseball dynamics and fellow The Sauce Report-er put it, “it’s a lot like Edwin Jackson. I think if a guy’s problems are mental he needs to figure it out someplace else” (read that with a little bit of a Southern twang).  He’s right, too. Edwin Jackson always had the stuff to get the job done in Tampa Bay, but just could not put it together. Kazmir has seen a steady decline in his statistics over the last several years.  He’s been putting more guys on but, more importantly, he’s been taken yard with an astoundingly increased frequency.

In return? The (Devil) Rays got two prospects and yes, there are reasons that they are called prospects but that’s just how the circle of life works. Simba wasn’t born ready to be king, you know? Keith Law of ESPN profiled Matt Sweeney, a single-A third baseman,  as one of the top prospects in the Angels organization. He is largely expected to hit for power and average. He may never make it to the bigs, that’s true, but the circle of life is about getting value. Triple-A LHP Alex Torres was recently featured on Baseball America’s Hot Sheet. And, as Law points out, Tampa gets a third player which “is more than just a throw-in.”  This deal was almost dead on Friday, but the Rays squeezed this last player out of the Angels. In fact, Law goes as far as to say  “this [is] a tremendous return for a pitcher whose value had really nose-dived over the past 10 months.”

I like Kazmir, and I am sad to see him go. I appreciate his three starts where he was dominant both because it increased his value, and because it’s how I wanted him to go out as a Ray. The thing about this trade is, the Rays needed it, and the Angels needed it, and Kazmir needed it if he hopes to become the pitcher he can be. I sincerely hope he does, too. Cheers, Scott, I’ll be in LA next weekend so give me a call.

More Ryan at The Sauce Report.   For more on the Kazmir trade, check out Trop It Like It’s Hot

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