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« White Sox To Keep Mike Myers? | Main | Carlos Guillen to Play 1B Next Season »
Kazmir Calls for Veterans
Yesterday, I posted about the Devil Rays increasing payroll by 20%. Today, more Tampa talk! Two Marc's with a "C" have the scoop: Marc Lancaster and Marc Topkin both reported that lefty ace and ::ahem:: AL strikeout leader Scott Kazmir (or as the Mets refer to him: The One Who Got Away) has called upon management to bring in some veterans.
Despite the payroll increase, 20% of the Rays current payroll is only around $7MM before revenue sharing assistance. The Rays would like to re-sign Carlos Pena in arbitration and Boras wants a lot. Yet Kazmir is entering his first year of arbitration and won't reach free agency until 2010. The Rays have until then to build a winning club around Kazmir. And if they do, would he want to stay?
Right now, his comments speak for themselves, "It's tough being kind of the laughingstock of baseball right now. It really is."
I found this interesting because while I think Kazmir is right, it's contrary to most of the comments MLBTR readers made yesterday. Most call for the Rays to trade Carl Crawford, etc, to re-stock young talent; however, you can never underestimate the value of veteran presence. With the way Mike Lowell took Dustin Pedroia under his wing this season, and how well that turned out, maybe the Devil Rays are a good fit for the veteran?
Yet to me, this all sounds like a good PR move. On the heels of Rays owner Peter Sternberg's announcement of the payroll increase, a high profile player calls on management for help. Devil Rays are generating good buzz going into the offseason in an effort to boost their market value which is a natural first step toward competing against big market clubs.
As a side note, I got to stand just three feet behind Kazmir during a bullpen session a couple weeks ago and I can report that despite not being very large guy, his forearms arms were shockingly huge!
Posted by: Nat Boyle
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Unfortunately, it's hard to lure veterans to a building project. And that's exactly what Tampa Bay has been since it's inception. The "Hit Show" experiment of Canseco-Vaughn-McGriff-Castilla didn't work, so that could debunk the thought of veterans helping right the ship of this abysmal franchise. The Devil Rays are most likely going to have to follow the model of the Diamondbacks and build a contender from within. I don't know many free agent veterans who would be gleeful in going to Tampa Bay and spending the prime years of his career taking the beating of building.
Posted by: Stephen Peele | September 29, 2007 at 11:10 AM
I think they need to target a pitching veteran. They have an excess of young positional talent. Crawford strikes me as the trading chip that can bring the most in return while also being fairly replaceable.
I just don't know who they should target. Garland doesn't seem quite good enough.
If they go for a FA, Schilling would be ideal, but who knows if he'd be up for Tampa?
Posted by: mymrbig | September 29, 2007 at 11:14 AM
They need to do the right thing and just move the team to San Antonio or some place like that, someplace that can actually support a major league baseball team. Both Florida teams struggle and will always struggle getting people to come out to ball games.
Posted by: Mike Simms | September 29, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Schilling is up for Tampa.
He said in a radio interview a few weeks ago that he is monitoring the Tampa situation and would enjoy finishing his career there.
Posted by: SoxFanatic456 | September 29, 2007 at 11:23 AM
All this news i jiving with my idea that they should bring in Schilling as a veteran presence for the rotation, and vizquel on offense.
Posted by: tyler | September 29, 2007 at 12:18 PM
How about trading Carl Crawford for 2 releivers; Then sign Bobby Abrue as an outfielder. Then sign Curt Schilling as a pitcher.
Posted by: kevybo1 | September 29, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Couple of gripes.
1) Pena has only four years of service time after this year. He remains property of the D-Rays, though he could command a lot in arbitration.
2) There is little doubt the Yankees pick up Abreu's option.
Posted by: The Sporting Brews | September 29, 2007 at 12:34 PM
I have never noticed that he has large forearms. The most ridiculous thing is Johnathon Broxtons thighs which have a diamiter of like 1.5 feet.
Posted by: themfightnwords | September 29, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Poor Tampa is totally screwed. Even if they develop a decent squad there is no way they can compete in the AL East.
They should focus all their efforts on convincing Bud Selig to move them to a different division or league.
On a sub 50 mil payroll they just aren't fixable.
Posted by: tmar | September 29, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Sporting Brews - You're right about Pena. Thanks.
Posted by: Nat Boyle | September 29, 2007 at 12:49 PM
As for them modeling themselves after the DBacks...
If the DBacks were in the NL East they'd be in 3rd place at best (likely 4th).
Posted by: tmar | September 29, 2007 at 12:49 PM
Schilling and Bonds, get it done. 2008 AL wild card winners.
Posted by: ArodSucksAtLife | September 29, 2007 at 12:55 PM
AL Wild Card winners? No chance. They are 27.5 games out of the WC this year. I don't see the Yanks or Sox regressing much so they would need to improve themselves by about 25 games. That is going to be nearly impossible playing the Yanks Sox Indians Tigers and Angels about 60 times. They'd probably win the NL WC. Hell, they could probably win the NL Central.
Posted by: Ripwa | September 29, 2007 at 02:49 PM
While I agree that the AL Wild Card is a long shot with the Yankees, Sox and a very good Jays team in the same division (in addition to other good teams in the league). But this DRays team is stacked with positional player talent (could use a good middle IF'er). Their main weakness is pitching (5.56 team ERA, +1 ERA above league average). Rumor has it that the DRays are stacked in the minor leagues with awesome pitching prospects. So if the DRays brought in Schilling to go with Kazmir and Shields they would have 3 great SP's. A good signing/trade for a RP, maybe a middle IF'er and the hopeful addition of some of these pitching prospects could propel the DRays to a winning record in '08. First a winning record next season, before they can dream about playoffs.
Posted by: kab21 | September 29, 2007 at 04:36 PM
I'm just a little sad the Astros can't do a better job of mining the Houston-area for talent. Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, Chris B. Young, Josh Beckett, just to name a few...
Posted by: jatorres | September 29, 2007 at 04:50 PM
How could they mine them? Most of these guys were top picks of the Draft so there was nothing the Astros could do.
Posted by: Barroid_Bonds | September 29, 2007 at 09:20 PM
kab21- I don't mean to be a pisser but not only do they have to out-produce at least one of the two (Sox and Yankees) but they have to play a majority of their games against ALE teams.
If they were to ever make it to the playoffs it would be a real David and Goliath story. Winning in the best division with the lowest (or near) budget.
Posted by: tmar | September 29, 2007 at 09:24 PM
“Winning in the best division with the lowest (or near) budget”
…Well, its not impossible though ~ Cleveland has the lowest payroll in the Central (yeah, KC spent more) but is fighting with Boston for the best record in baseball. And some might even argue that the AL-C is actually the toughest division in baseball. Sadly though, while the Tribe is 23rd/30 in payroll overall, they are still spending 35M more than TB…
Anyway, I really do think they shouldn’t spend too much right now and instead focus on keeping the players they have developed on longterm deals. The time to strike probably wont be 2008 but instead 09-10 when NY sees many of their current high salary stars leave and possibly having a new owner thinking more along the lines of retooling a bit. Its not much of a gamble keeping who you have, and as long as you don’t sign insanely bad deals in 09-10 then even opening the pocket book a little those years shouldn’t hurt longterm but may gain you a ton of respect.
BTW, I just realized the whole “we will increase payroll by 20% or whatever is kind of a joke in reality ~ they decreased it by 10M in 07 over last year so even the increase wont bring them up to what they spent in 06…
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 29, 2007 at 11:47 PM
“He was 25 when he posted a era a full run lower than his normal seasons… …maybe it was just a breakout season.”
Youre kidding right?
Hummm, Garland’s years…
02 LgAvg ERA
03 LgAvg ERA
04 LgAvg ERA
05 1 Full Run lower
06 LgAvg ERA
07 LgAvg ERA (well slightly off, but close)
So, it was a “breakout season”?
“darkstar it's clear you're not a Garland fan or you care about him coming to your team, yet you make sure to post in all these threads when you have no clue about the subject”
Its not that I’m “not a Garland fan” or whatever; I’m just a realist. If he was good I would call him good, if he isn’t then I cant. When you have a pitcher who is consistently LgAvg then how can you argue he somehow isn’t LgAvg? If he is LgAvg for 6 years outside of 1 year right smack dab in the middle then how can you argue its a “Breakout” season and not a “Fluke”. But obviously you are a fan so what’s the point of trying to talk logic with you if youre just going to come back with an argument that boils down to “he’s much better than he actually always plays”.
Could Garland get a 4/50 contract or something from the FA market in 2009; sure it’s a possibility ~ but he’s not on the FA market yet and that doesn’t mean he’s worth prospects plus 12M right now (when LgAvg is generally going for 8-11max) since there are better options available. But if you really think that KW could get pretty much anything he wanted or whatever, well then how do you explain KW saying that he would like to get 2 RPs, one being established. Ever think maybe its you who doesn’t know much about the situation?
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 29, 2007 at 11:50 PM
what the??? How did that get there too?
Ok well please disregard that post which seems to have posted in two threads at once!
And if you catch this Nate, Tim or whoever is in charge today it would be great if the post regarding Garland could be deleted :) Thanks
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 29, 2007 at 11:53 PM