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So Rick Peterson Doesn't Hate Scott Kazmir?

In 2004 the New York Mets agreed to send Scott Kazmir, their #1 pitching prospect, to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano, a pitcher who was generally mediocre. The trade proved to be horrendous for the Mets as Zambrano accomplished absolutely nothing while Kazmir made an immediate impact on the Devil Rays and flashed elite stuff.

In the aftermath of the trade Mets fans flashed their rage at many people. They yelled at Steve Phillips for making the trade, the problem with that was Phillips had already been fired. The next target was Pitching Coach Rick Peterson who was rumored to say a multitude of things: "He could fix Zambrano in ten minutes.", "Kazmir was at least 3 years away from the Majors." There were also rumors that the two didn't get along and that Kazmir didn't respond well to his coaching.

Well unless they had a huge hug it out session, I'm guessing that all of those rumors were false and bullshit as Kazmir credits his return to form to his work with Rick Peterson. If you're thinking, Rick Peterson wasn't the Rays or the Angels pitching coach this year or last, why did they work together? Well, apparently after a trip to Doc Andrews' ASMI clinic, Kazmir decided to seek out Peterson and get him to work on his delivery and get him back to his former self.

So much for blaming Phillips or Peterson for this trade. The entire blame now goes to Jim Duquette.
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