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Photo of the Day Hoo Ray! Kazmir Out Of A.L. East!

In a shocker of a trade, the Tampa Bay Rays traded two-time All Star Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels for three minor leaguers.  As it turns out, the 25 year-old lefty made his last appearance as a Ray last Wednesday at Rogers Centre and he's the subject of our POTD.



In his last start in a Tampa uniform, Kazmir allowed just one run over six innings as he gave up just four hits, one walk and hit a man while striking out 10.  He wound up with a no-decision after J.P. Howell's meltdown in the ninth helped give the Jays a 3-2 come from behind win.

Though he's just 8-7 with a 5.92 ERA this season, the Angels have given its starting rotation a huge shot in the arm as rookies Trevor Bell and Sean O'Sullivan have struggled.  Considering Kazmir is under contract until the end of the 2011 season, the Angels could have its next ace in waiting if John Lackey doesn't re-sign with the club during the off-season.  He'll make his Angels debut Wednesday at Safeco Field in Seattle. 

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Monday, August 31 2009 @ 12:32 AM EDT.
Hoo Ray! Kazmir Out Of A.L. East! | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mick Doherty - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 12:49 AM EDT (#205716) #

Many Texans are unhappy -- Kazmir is something like 110-2 against the Rangers. Or it just seems like that, anyway.

Any sure word on what LAA is giving up? I've heard some mighty big prospect names bandied, but nothing for certain.

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dfp - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 12:57 AM EDT (#205717) #
Actually I think I read Kazmir is 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA lifetime against Texas. Which is close but he's even better than you said, since he only has one loss, since he'll probably win the next 105 games against them.

In all seriousness though, I wonder if maybe Kazmir has already peaked and that's why the Rays are trading him? If so this would definitely be maximizing value considering all it took was Victor Zambrano for them to get him, and now they're getting 3 prospects. With Matt Sweeney supposed to be pretty good and I assume they player to be named is quite good as well.
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Thomas - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 12:58 AM EDT (#205718) #
Two of the minor leaguers have been named as Alex Torres and Matt Sweeney. Neither is a standout prospect, but both are intriguing names. Torres has had a good year on the mound, but projects as a reliever going forward. Sweeney is a typical defensively handicapped third base prospect who will probably have to shift to first, which may mitigate his power potential. Both are real prospects as opposed to just names, but neither would be among the Angels top 5 prospects, I don't think. I haven't heard much about who the PTBNL is.
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jgadfly - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 02:15 AM EDT (#205720) #

Does the checkerboard turf play as bad as it looks ? 

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brent - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 04:04 AM EDT (#205722) #
At least Tampa won't be able to keep a powerhouse team around eventually because of costs. Jays' fans should be relieved slightly. 
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John Northey - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 11:17 AM EDT (#205727) #
My first reaction was 'why didn't the Jays claim him'.  Then I thought about it and figured they let him go in hopes Tampa trades him out of the division or even out of the league.  Now, if I was a Texas fan I'd be a bit more annoyed as they should not let any guy who can help the Angels get past them, same with Boston.  Both could've claimed him and kept him out of LAA's hands (and potentially out of the Yankees as they were further down the line than the Angels).

Trades after August 1st are always interesting due to that subplot.  Why didn't team XYZ claim the player to keep him away from the competition?  I recall the Brewer fans getting annoyed about them letting David Cone go to the Jays back in 1992 (the final piece of the first WS puzzle - I celebrated when he was traded for). 
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92-93 - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 01:26 PM EDT (#205729) #
"My first reaction was 'why didn't the Jays claim him'."

Because if he was a free agent JP wouldn't give him 2/22.5m.
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GregH - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#205734) #
I agree with jgadfly about the turf.  When it was first unveiled on Opening Day 2004, it looked pretty good; now it looks horrid.  I would think that Rogers could come up with the few million it would take to replace it, to at least make the Rogers Centre look half decent. 
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Christopher - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 03:28 PM EDT (#205736) #

From the tsn.ca recap of the August 21st game, there was a note that stated:

Notes: The Blue Jays are looking to replace the artificial turf at the Rogers Centre for next season. They're having a sample of the new surface installed on the half-diamond at their spring facility in Dunedin, Fla., to test out how it plays. The new turf should be easier on the players' bodies and allow for quicker transitions at the facility than the current surface. ...

 

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92-93 - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 03:31 PM EDT (#205737) #
Which is likely the exact same thing that was written about the FieldTurf when it was installed and replaced the previous carpet.
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zeppelinkm - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 05:48 PM EDT (#205742) #
And which is also probably true. There is a progression to things. Hopefully this new turf is yet another step closer to real grass.
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jmoney - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 07:27 PM EDT (#205744) #
A lot of teams are dumping salary. Can't wait for the days when the Yankees and Red Sox have payrolls 10 times of that of the Blue Jays. Sort of feel for Tampa it looks like they're going to settle into the 3rd place spot the Jays had locked up.
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lexomatic - Monday, August 31 2009 @ 09:30 PM EDT (#205748) #
tonight's game is a nice change (and also more of the same)
figures the 2 most useless players are Millar (batting cleanup) & Bautista. I'd like to have a game thread i think

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Richard S.S. - Tuesday, September 01 2009 @ 03:55 AM EDT (#205753) #
LA Dodgers pick up John Garland and Jim Thome - now that interesting since Manny sucks.
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92-93 - Tuesday, September 01 2009 @ 08:17 AM EDT (#205754) #
Yep, Manny is looking just awful this year at .307/.427/.544. I guess it's the .402 OBP in his "down month" of August that leaves you unimpressed.

It will be interesting, though, to see what Torre has in store for Thome. Seems like an expensive PH pickup, so perhaps he plans on starting him at 1B vs. LHP for the first 7 innings or so. Loney has reverse splits this year and has handled lefties well, so that could work.
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