| 31 August 2009
The Tampa Bay Rays traded Scott Kazmir to the Angels on Friday.
There's no mention of the Boston Red Sox in the above sentence, but this deal impacts the Red Sox in a number of ways... so why is nobody talking about it?
1. The Angels lost their best hitter in Mark Teixeira last season, yet they lead the AL with a .289 team average and trail the Yankees by a mere three runs for the league lead with 736.
In the past the Halos have been forced to manufacture runs and rely on their pitching. This season, the starters have been mediocre and the offense has stepped up. Adding Kazmir to a rotation that includes John Lackey and Jared Weaver makes this team dangerous in the post season... and if the Sox win the wild card seed, guess who they'll be playing.
2. Kazmir's 8-7, 5.92 ERA line this season is nothing to be excited about, but the guy has been very good against the Red Sox and Yankees in his career.
He's 8-7 with a 3.59 ERA and a .241 BAA against the Sox overall... but it should be noted that he was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and a .324 BAA against Boston in 2008.
Kazmir is 6-4 with a 2.53 ERA and a .218 BAA in 13 career starts versus the Yankees, but unlike with the Red Sox, he was very good against the Yanks in 2008: 2-1, 1.06 ERA, .155 BAA.
I'm happy to see him out of Tampa, but he would have been a nice weapon for us against the Yankees.
Jon Lester is our lone lefty in the rotation and with the new Stadium and a lineup full of left-handed batters, we could have used a guy like Kazmir in the playoffs and the future.
3. So why didn't Theo put in a claim for Kazmir? It's a good question... At the very least, the Red Sox could have stopped the Angels from getting him with their higher waiver status, but there's more to this puzzle than meets the eye.
Kazmir is in the first year of a three-year, $28.5 million deal. This is probably the main reason the Rays let him go, even though Kazmir is just 25 years old right now.
This may also be why the Red Sox passed on him. Kazmir is not earning his money right now and has been fighting through injuries for the past two seasons. We need only look at Daisuke Matsuzaka to remember that expensive starters that get injured can really hurt your ball club in a number of ways.
That said, The Red Sox were forced to call up Paul Byrd yesterday to start. Sure Wake appeared to be on his way back and Buchholz looking good right now, but I would have felt pretty good about Kazmir as our No. 5 starter.
Hell... after seeing him average 6.4 IP/GS with a 2-0 record, a 3.28 ERA and a 21/6 K/BB ratio in his last three starts, I think he would have made a nice No.3 in the playoffs as well.
Bottom Line: Look... I called for Brad Penny's head all season after watching him consistently struggle to finish the 6th inning. I know that Kazmir has that same problem: 5.79 IP per start in his last 5 season... but Kazmir has been a solid pitcher in the AL East for 5 years. Brad Penny proved just how hard that really is.
But it's too late now... Kazmir is in LA and there's no doubt that the Angels will be looking for him to make the difference against the AL East in October.
I just hope Theo's decision to pass on this kid doesn't come back to bite us in the ass.
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