Angels Desperate Search For Pitching Lands Kazmir
The Angels have added an oft-injured former ace to the lineup. A good roll of the dice this late in the season.
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A picture of Scott Kazmir healthy and pitching. Not as easy to find as you'd think.
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The Angels hitting is the kind of thing that can win a team the World Series. The Angels pitching… not so much.
This late in the season there are few options to remedy pitching woes, but the Angels found a potentially good (or potentially just expensive) one in Scott Kazmir, the left-hander from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Angels gave up three players in the deal: minor leaguer pitcher Alex Torres, power hitting third base prospect Matt Sweeney and a player to be named later. It may not be a great trade, but the Angels needed to do something.
If this trade included a DeLorean that could travel back to 2006 it would be a great one for the Halos, back then Kazmir was one of the best pitchers in baseball. This season he has been less than stellar — a 5.92 ERA and an 8-7 record. He has been better since the All Star break, and his last outing (with 10 strike outs) was his best of the season. So if you want to you can talk yourself into believing Kazmir is finally getting healthy. If he were to return to form, it would be a great get for the Angels.
But the fact that the Rays are letting him go for a couple of minor leaguers not in the Angels pre-season top 10 prospects, and a player to be named later, may tell you something. Granted, Sweeney has shown a lot of promise this year and could develop into something, but he’s still not a top prospect.
On top of all that, Kazmir will not be cheap for Anaheim. He is slated to make $8 million next season, $12 million the season after that (with a team option for the third season of $13.5 million). That is another reason the Rays were willing to make the trade, to save some cash.
However, the Angels didn’t really have a choice. They have the everyday players to be a real World Series threat — two weeks ago their fielded a lineup where every hitter had over a .300 batting average. They field the ball fairly well. But their team ERA is 24th in baseball, thrown by a pitching staff that has been trying to overcome injuries (not to mention the untimely death of pitcher Nick Adenhart).
The Angles need arms, even if they come out of the bullpen in the playoffs (which Kazmir might do if he underwhelms as a starter). At this point in the season, with the Angels needs, Kazmir is a good risk to take. A team never knows when it will get to make a run and the World Series again.
