How the Hell Did No One Block the Kazmir Deal?

On friday night I turned on ESPN and saw "Angels Negotiating with Rays to acquire Scott Kazmir". In a baseball world where little more will shock me, my jaw went to the floor. How the hell did Scott Kazmir go through waivers all the way to the Angels? This makes absolutely positively no sense to me.

First off, why the hell are the Rays trading away Scott Kazmir right now? I understand that he's had a very bad year for his standards. But he's pitched better in the 2nd half of the season, 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA and more importantly he's still just 25 and signed for a not too unreasonable 20 million dollars over the next two seasons. Why are the Rays trading away a pitcher who should be helping their playoff push, when they're down just 4 games in the Wild Card, for two players to be named later? Are you simply throwing in the towel for this season? It certainly seems like that.

Next, and even more baffling, how does not one single team with a record worse than the Angels claim Scott Kazmir. Again, he's 25, has shown dominant stuff in the past, has a terrific career record against both the Red Sox and Yankees, is left handed, and throws 95. So if perchance the Rays were looking for a straight salary dump, than why not? Why wouldn't you want to pick him up. Tell me where else are you going to find a 25 year old 2-time all star with solid stats against the Yanks and Sox? If you are the Tigers and you're almost guaranteed to face either the Yankees or Red Sox or both in the playoffs, how are you not claiming him?

And if you think the Rays aren't looking to get rid of Kazmir as a straight salary dump, than how exactly do you not claim him just to block the Angels from picking him up. If you read MLB Trade Rumors or watched sportscenter at the deadline, rumors were abound that the Angels wanted Kazmir. So why if you are the Red Sox would you not claim him, just to make sure that the Angels can't utilize him against you in the first round of the playoffs. If you're a Red Sox Executive do you really want Kazmir pitching against you in Game 4 of the playoffs?

I'm baffled. I just don't understand how this trade actually happened.

Comments

M E T S = Mercifully End The Season

Do it before David Wright gets Hurt!

Continue Reading the Rest of This Fine Post

Numbers On Steroids: Mickey Mantle

Numbers on Steroids is a look at baseball players during the 90s to see if anything screams out at you. This week it's throwing a curve ball and looking at All Time Great Yankees. Players that we know did not take steroids to see if this gives a defense to any of the players 'convicted' by Numbers on Steroids. Time to look at my dad's favorite athlete of all time, Mickey Mantle. Averages Say: What's with the mysterious dip at 27 and then the uptick? At Bats Per Home Run Says: That's a mighty jump from 22 to 24 Explaining As If It Was the 90s If you take a look at the numbers there are two time frames which in the 1990s would be questioned. First would be the incredible leap he took from his first year in the big leagues to his first MVP season in 1956. His batting average jumped 50 points. His slugging percentage jumped 90 points and he hit 15 more homers than his previous high. This wouldn't merrit a conviction nowadays though because the young age he...

Continue Reading the Rest of This Fine Post

Guest Post: Thoughts on Sabathia Signing

I asked Grutt what his thoughts were on the Sabathia signing and I thought his response pretty much nailed it. So here it is. I don’t know. Every year I get a little more disenchanted with baseball. Yea, it’s great we signed the top pitching free agent. But we were supposed to. No team was even in the ballpark of the Yankees offer yet they still needed to jump from the already ridiculous price of $140 million to $160 million to close the deal. Now I hear we are going to sign more pitchers who will also get large contracts and the position player gaps are still glaring. Each new, large contract just adds to the feeling that the Yanks are supposed to win it all. “I think we have a good chance this year.” That is a lost feeling. If they don’t win I’ll wonder why, like there has to be some other reason besides that it’s a sport you can never predict how things will work out and some years just aren’t yours to be won. If they win I will be pleasantly smug. It gets a little more...

Continue Reading the Rest of This Fine Post

SimonOnSports

Search This Blog