The Dodgers announced on Wednesday that they have signed left-hander Scott Kazmir to a three-year contract. The contract will reportedly guarantee Kazmir a total of $48MM, but he also obtains an opt-out clause after the first season, and there are reportedly deferrals in the deal. Kazmir is said to receive a $5MM signing bonus and a $3MM salary in 2016, with annual payments of $8MM in each of the next five seasons (or, in the case of an opt out, a second payment of $8MM next year).
Kazmir, a client of The Legacy Agency, will fill a void in the Dodgers’ rotation and give them yet another lefty starter to pair with Clayton Kershaw, Brett Anderson, Alex Wood and, if healthy, Hyun-jin Ryu, creating the potential for an entirely left-handed starting five.
In Kazmir, the Dodgers will secure some rotation stability that has eluded them to this point in the offseason. Los Angeles aggressively pursued a reunion with 2015 Cy Young runner-up Zack Greinke but lost out on their co-ace to an eleventh-hour push from the division-rival Diamondbacks. When that deal fell through, L.A. made a strong push for Hisashi Iwakuma and agreed to terms at three years and $45MM, but concerns about his physical prompted the Dodgers to try to restructure the deal. With that hefty guarantee no longer on the table, Iwakuma returned to Seattle on a one-year deal with a pair of vesting options, sending the Dodgers back to the drawing board.
Kazmir, 32 next month, was one of the top remaining starters on the market and should provide the Dodgers with a sizable upgrade over their internal options to round out the rotation. Formerly one of the game’s most promising young pitchers, Kazmir’s career went south in a hurry last decade due to myriad injuries, and he was absent from Major League Baseball entirely from 2011-12 with the exception of 1 2/3 innings with the Angels. However, Kazmir reinvented himself on the independent circuit and emerged with the Indians in 2013 to throw 158 quality innings. That prompted a two-year deal with Oakland, which he completed in 2015 (as a member of the Astros, following a trade).
Since returning to the Majors, Kazmir has compiled a 3.54 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate of roughly 43 percent. He’s faded down the stretch somewhat in each of the past two seasons but delivered an overall strong body of work in that time, positioning himself for a sizable commitment on the open market. Kazmir reportedly had multiple three-year offers in the range of $13MM annually, but he was able to secure not only a larger annual value but an opt-out clause. While he was said to be hoping for four guaranteed years, the opt-out clause could potentially make this contract more valuable than a four-year pact anyhow, as Kazmir will now have the opportunity to enter the 2016-17 market as perhaps the second-best starter available, trailing Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. If, on the other hand, injuries sideline him or he struggles in his first-ever taste of the National League, Kazmir can still collect a hefty guarantee for the 2016-17 seasons. From the Dodgers’ vantage point, the silver lining in the event of an opt-out after just one season would be compensation in the form of a 2017 draft pick, assuming Kazmir rejects a qualifying offer.
Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times reported the guarantee (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report the opt-out clause (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted that Kazmir’s salaries would be deferred evenly over a six-year term.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Took you a while
Still wish the Mariners would have just signed him instead of giving up Smith for Miley.
Miley will better in the long term
lol no he wont, Carson Smith is a boss who should be closing for years to come.
Totally agree. A big price for someone with an ERA over 4 the last two years. And, add in Elias on top of Smith, and it makes it worse.
This almost could have been Miley straight up for Elias, and even with that, I would keep Elias.
Or he could be another in the long line of relievers that flame out after early success. No one knows, it’s all a guessing game.
Thank you Seattle for giving us Smith and Elias for a .500 pitcher in Miley.
Just watch, Smith will hurt his elbow and require tommy John, Elias will be a 6th starter all year, while Miley pitches all year with an era below 3.25.
Please tell me you’re not basing Miley’s value on something as arbitrary as win loss record. Fair trade for both sides. Mariners got a back of the rotation innings eater. Sox got a very good 7th inning guy. The other two were below average throw ins.
Miley is moving to one of the best pitchers parks in baseball, pitchers that have average career stats tend to do better in safeco
ERA/FIP/ERA+ all peg Miley as a 3-4 starter…..who is cost controlled for the next 3 seasons at about $27M total. In this market that is a huge steal.
I meant Miley better than kazmire
And Kazmir only required money whereas Miley cost 2 young pitchers and his contract.
How much money do you think the Mariners have?
it’s not always a question of how much money they have but often a question of how much they’re willing to spend.
Five lefties? You didn’t mention Wood above as fifth starter. Probably will still get Maeda.
Who cares!!! They finally made some noise!!!
They’ve got lots of starting options now, doubt they will add Maeda. But I’ve doubted a few things would happen this offseason that happened, so.
I think they still need Maeda. Ryu still a question. I’d put the chances of that 5-man lefty rotation all being healthy at the same time at about 20%, Stick in Maeda and if, miracles of miracles, the six are all healthy at the same time, Wood could be moved to the pen..
Teams need six solid starters.
Brandon McCarthy comes back in June.
maybe, maybe not.
Just like that other Brandon…
Agree they still need Maeda. An all lefty rotation doesn’t do much for me. Also wonder if makes much sense for Wood to become the casualty of an overloaded rotation. Does he really pencil out to be the less attractive choice compared to Kazmir? Wood’s real value in this setup might be his ability to be optioned.
err… yes you did. edit.
I really wanted him for the Orioles.
The Orioles wouldn’t have done the Opt out clause. A lot of guys go to the Dodgers and pitch very well in that ballpark and division. Now he can have a great season and build up more value, opt out and cash in even more next off season.
You know the guy turns 32 before the season starts, right? I think the Dodgers would prefer over paying for one year rather than commit for 5 years and pay for 2 or 3 years of garbage.
Finally!!! What took Andrew and Squad so long!!!
It’s still 2015. The season doesn’t start for a while.
This guy chokes when it counts. Awful in September and October.
Better (or let’s say, Less Awful) in the postseason than David Price though.
Doubt the Dodgers are picking him up for October, so it’s a decent deal in my eyes.
Over his career Sept/Oct is his 3rd best stretch (3.68 ERA)
Then he will fit in perfectly in LA.
Kershaw hasn’t done well in post season, either. But so what? You need good people to get you to the playoffs.
Kershaw, Kazmir, Wood, Ryu and Anderson isn’t a bad rotation.
They have the top farm system in baseball, plus 4 more first rounders this year.
Montas and Yadi Alvarez for Miller?
Well built for a first round exit. Kershaw blows it in the 7th game one and none of the other guys scare anyone in October.
I would’ve thought that the more educated readership that MLBTR attracts would spare me from the “Kershaw chokes” nonsense, but apparently not.
I doubt Yadi Alvarez is going anywhere after just getting $16 million bonus
Well look at Hector Olivera. Dodgers would certainly not hesitate to deal Alvarez in the RIGHT deal.
Hallelujah Congratualtions, we signed an Ace to be out No.2 and a No.2 to be our Middle rotation guy. And LAD sign Scott Kazmir to replace Grienke.
That LAD fan who loves saying, “you just wait!”, on this forum, must be shaking his head as well.
Go on Dodgers, construct a World Series winning team!!!
Now all the Giants need is an outfielder or 3.
Pence is always hurt, Pagan maybe the worse CFer in baseball, and Blanco never played everyday for an entire season.
Since when is Jeff Samardzija a #2? His ERA was 5 last year.
Pence had 600+ from 2008 to 2014, until his arm was broken by a pitch in spring training. I’ll take that kind of always hurt!
Define always? He had the longest streak of games played prior to last season, to think he’s injury prone now is just ignorant.
That’s just devoid of facts. Not to mention the Pence part just being wrong, Blanco has also averaged 135 games/year since becoming a Giant.
Pagan is horrible though LOL – but that’s why they’ll get Fowler once his market dries up on a 1-year make-good deal similar to this one for Kazmir
“Pence is always hurt”
You’re joking right?
You’re forgetting the team backing up Samardzija last season was not very good. He now has an infield composed almost entirely of gold glovers (past/present/future). That ERA is dropping
Samardjiza is a flyball prone pitcher. Moving to ATT will help though.
So then how do you explain his 4.23 FIP? Sure, his FIP is indicating that he wasnt as bad as his 4.96 ERA indicates, but a 4.23 FIP is still bad. Ya, it’ll come down some because of defense and it’ll get some park adjustment, but then, so will every pitcher that pitches for the Dodgers, Padres and Giants who ALL play in pitcher friendly parks. When three teams that all play in pitcher friendly parks in the same division have their ERA lowered because if it, its not as impressive.
Or you could look at his FIP as an aberration. Especially seeing how it was over a point higher than any of his previous seasons as a starter. Or you can just look at that ONE season and sum up good ol Jeff. I’d prefer the aberration instead of a generalization from one lackluster season with a lackluster team in a lackluster division.
On the FIP and playing in a pitchers park: Ian Kennedy had a 4.51 playing half of his innings at Petco. The park factor helps, but it’s not a guarantee.
Also, regarding FIP. A “below average” FIP (as defined by Fangraphs) has deferred teams yet. Samardzija (4.23) got $18M/yr, Leake (4.20) got $16. Chen (4.17) will get around the same, Kennedy (4.51) will get a lot. Kazmir (3.98) although better than 4.20, is not supremely better, and also got $16M.
I don’t know where that leaves us except to say that teams aren’t seeming to care as much.
Pence is always hurt? That is laughably false and ignorant to even say that. Almost as much saying Blanco has never been an everyday player, he’s played 140+ games in 4 separate seasons in his career. The only point you may be right about is Pagan. 1 out of 3 probably isn’t bad for you though probably.
1. Pence was hurt last year. That’s it.
2. Blanco has had at least 350+ PAs in each season with the Giants.
3. Samardzija is not viewed as a #2 by the Giants. Hence their signing of Johnny Cueto.
Go on Giants fans, construct some class!!!
(impossible apparently)
The Dodgers havent won since 1988 and you all act like they are actual rivals? Its time to move on, they dont care as much as you.
By class do you mean a fan base that makes it unsafe for other fans to come to the games, or parking lot?
or did you mean a franchise that stands by one of the dirtiest plays in postseason history which could have ended a young player’s career?
I’m a little confused and not sure what you mean.
Getting drunk and running your mouth is potentially unsafe anywhere.
Yea, Dodgers fan should be more like Giants fans. Instead of beating a guy up in the parking lot, they should stab and kill him instead like what happened to Jonathan Denver
Shark and Cueto? Please. You do realize the current Giant rotation, minus Bum, had an ERA of about 5 for the second half last year..
The 2014 Giants proved that all you need is a hot first half to get you into the postseason and Bumgarner will take care of the rest.
Banking on a once-in-a decade sort of performance every-other-year seems like a good plan!
I didn’t realize it – since it’s not true. Peavy was 8-2 with a 3.31 ERA. For all of Cueto’s “problems” he was at 3.80. And if you don’t think Cueto will bounce back from a rough patch, then you must hate this Kazmir deal if you’re a Dodger fan
From Baseball Essential: While the rotation is now composed of big names — Madison Bumgarner, Cueto, Samardzija, Jake Peavy, Matt Cain, and Chris Heston — it’s not as strong as it appears. In the second half of last season, those six starters combined for a less-than-inspiring 4.46 ERA. Even worse, if you take out Bumgarner’s stellar performance, the rest of the group had a 4.93 ERA, which would have ranked fourth-highest in the major leagues.
For how much stock you put on the second half, Kazmir’s time with Houston should really scare you. Yikes.
Honestly the only good season Shark had was 2014. Outside of that season he never had more than 1.6 WAR in a season (ESPN).
Hard to argue with a team that has won 3 rings in the last six years, but they paid Shark on potential, not performance (never mind the fact that FO has already whiffed on the Cain/Lincecum extensions)
1. Per Fangraphs, Samardzija has had a WAR of 2.7 or higher every year since 2012. Fangraphs puts more stock into FIP than Baseball-Reference (which is used by ESPN). That’s more than 1 good season.
2. I don’t mind the Cain or Lincecum extensions, because a) it’s not my money and b) the Giants realize baseball is entertainment, and they like to bring back fan favorites. I have no problem with that.
They’re putting more stock into a made up stat. You can say….well this guy had an ERA of 4 but his FIP was 2.8 so he’s a stud. But fielders will always have an influence on the ball. Go by fangraphs WAR and compare his 2013/2015. FIP is based off of the outcomes of the pitcher and not fielders. His ERA/FIP was about half run lower in 2013. He struck out far more hitters in 2013, allowed less H/9, walked about 1 more batter per 9, allowed less HR/9, and had an 89 ERA+.. Despite 2013 being the obvious better season (2015 79 ERA+) both seasons he was worth 2.7 wins. baseball-reference has those seasons as .8 WAR and .1 WAR. Which seems more accurate?
I also put stock in metrics. FIP is one of the good indicators you can use. Sharks FIP was 4.23. He is almost certainly better than his 4.96 ERA but let’s be clear; a 4.23 FIP is bad.
I’m a Giants fan and find this ridiculous. Jeff S could be the next Barry Zito contract for us and there was a reason Cueto wasn’t snatched up very quickly.
“there was a reason Cueto wasn’t snatched up very quickly”
I’m curious to hear your rationale on Cespedes, Gordon, and Upton if you’re using this logic.
Shark’s career 96 ERA+ means he’s slightly below average….how do you equate that to him being a #2?
Shark, with his career 4.09 ERA and 3.84 FIP, is a number two starter huh? How bout his K/9 that dropped for 8.28 to 6.86, or maybe his BB/9 that rose by .30 points? He’s a solid middle of the rotation guy that got overpaid based on one great season.
In fact, since the start of the 2013 season, Kazmir has a lower ERA, lower FIP, higher K/9 and 1.3 less fWAR than Shark in 116 less innings. So if you go by the actual numbers and not just, you know, your biased opinion as a Giants’ fan, Kazmir has not only been the better pitcher (albeit, less durable) but is also a better vaule at 3/48 (with a first year out that is likely to be utilized) than Shark at 5/90.
And just to keep bursting your bubble, Cueto certainly isn’t an ace.either. He’s still very good, and forms a daunting 1-2 punch with MadBum at the top of the Giants’ rotation, but his luck finally faded in 2015 as his BABIP finally rose to a somewhat normal .281 (first time since 2010 that it was over .250) and his defense stopped propelling him higher. His 3.41 FIP since 2011 (over which time, his ERA is 2.71) is more emblematic of his ability. I’m willing to bet the Giants’ defense will hide Cueto’s mistakes well, but aces don’t need their defenses to carry them.
His BB/9 did raise by .30 points from 2014 to 2015, but dropped significantly from the numbers he used to put up (3.29 in 2013, 2.89 in 2012, and I’ll leave it at his numbers as a starter).
I’m in no way condemning his BB/9, it was more to the point that he regressed in essentially every major area last year. His walk numbers are very good.
Then again, so did Kazmir’s, minus the ERA.
Kazmir really wasn’t that good last year, but he was essentially the same caliber pitcher as Shark: a solid mid-rotation starter.
I was just trying to expose the flaw in the original comment, which was essentially laughing at the Dodgers for signing Kazmir to an appropriate contract but being pyshced that the Giants signed a “number 2” in Shark to a nearly-$100 million deal.
I don’t agree for a second that Samardzija is a #2. I’ll definitely say that.
Wow, who knew a simple post would create such a debate….
Well last season was last season, for all the people who believe Shark will be a 5 ERA in 2016, have no sense, in fact they think nonsense. It’s AT
Yeah, the people countering with real stats are the ones that think in nonsense, whereas you and your opinions reign supreme. LOL.
Stick to the FB comment sections.
Thanks for your non-partisan contributions here. 😉
But seriously, who knows what will happen, but the Dodgers now have the best farm system in baseball – not just best, but deepest, as per MLB.com, BA, and MinorLeagueBall’s John Sickels. While obviously not all those guys will pan out, some of them will provide good help starting with 2016 (not just Corey seager, but in the pitching department with newly acquired Montas joining DeLeon, Stripling, Urias and Cotton, among others), along with an improved pen and a deep rotation. yes, the rotation doesn’t have two “bonafide aces” but they had two bonafide aces last year and didn’t escape the NLDS. The Royals won the WS last year and made it to the WS the year before, with a decent but unspectacular starting rotation (including no one like Kershaw) and a great pen, and a deep lineup. Nothing wrong with going to that model and reaching into a deep farm system rather than giving up your first draft picks and bloating payroll.
But hey, keep laughing, I guess?
Hey look, someone with some sense!
Royals’ big free agent signing last offseason was Edinson Volquez for 2 years, $20 million. They ended up doing okay.
These opt out clauses are ridiculous. Players are going to be switching teams every year when good and the team is stuck when theyre bad
Never thought I’d see someone badmouth an opt out but here we are. There’s roughly a trillion more important things in MLB to care about than this.
Big deal, players will change teams more often, thats how the game has been over the last 30 years, and the days of 1-team guys are largely over, it will take a miracle for players to stay with one team.
I think the point they are trying to bring to light is the fact that these opt outs are vastly in the player’s favor
I wonder if this puts Maeda on Oakland’s radar – similar situation to when they got Cespedes.
Did they put up the $20M posting fee?
The total cost for OAK to sign Cespedes was $36M. Maeda will be around $100M (including posting fee). It’s not happening.
I doubt it will be quite that much. The fact that he was a star in Japan doesn’t mean a lot for what he gets here. He is likely to get paid as a mid-rotation starter with many questions hanging over him. Five years would be a lengthy commitment under the circumstances. No matter, I don’t think Oakland anted up the posting fee anyway.
How the heck did the Orioles not get this done. What a steal for the Dodgers. With the prices that other guys have commanded this offseason, this seems like absolute theft. Kazmir may be a #3 now, but that is still more valuable than what he will paid.
The Orioles wouldn’t have done the Opt out clause. A lot of guys go to the Dodgers and pitch very well in that ballpark and division. Now he can have a great season opt out and cash in even more next off season.
This deal does make the Dodgers rotation better, but 5 lefties??? Seems like overkill to be honest.
Interest that a few of these guys have reverse splits and actually have pitched better against righties.
Anderson and Ryu are both question marks. I see them trying to package Wood in a trade for a top of the rotation type pitcher and signing Maeda
I love the opt-out. Kazmir isn’t a surefire bet for 3-4 years down the road as he’s already 32, so if he excels this season, he can opt-out and the Dodgers won’t have to worry about an aging starter making $16m annually.
The opt-out is risky for the Dodgers.
One one hand he could have a great season, walk, then the young guys like Urias/deLeon etc. are not blocked.
On the other hand, Kazmir could get injured/ or become ineffective then the Dodgers have another McCarthy type contract on their hands
either way, they’re paying him for 2017 regardless
Yeah, that they could be stuck paying him if he gets bad isn’t the downside of the opt-out, it’s the downside of the large guaranteed contract.
The downside of the opt-out is that they could lose his age 33 and 34 seasons of he has a strong year this year and they aren’t willing to guarantee him next offseason through his age 35 or age 36. That isn’t really a downside at all, as letting him sign with another team gives him the same or less chance to get his 33 and 34 seasons.
so it’s essentially a 6 year $48,000,000 deal. I don’t get this deferring payroll. It makes no sense to me. Yea, it clears space for other assets for now, but what about when Seager and those guys start rising in price–it just proves to be a pain. I assume that’s why Kazmir signed this deal-(and the opt out probably helped)
48 million spread out over 6 years for a franchise worth in excess of 2 billion really isn’t that big of a deal… Lol if Scott Kazmir is the reason the Dodgers can’t afford Seager ill die laughing
It’s incentive for him to opt out if pitches good. Realistically LA doesn’t want him taking up a rotation slot for 4 seasons.
The deferrals make it worse for Kazmir and better for the team, because $8MM in 2021 is worth less than $8MM in present-day dollars and less than $8MM will be worth in 2018.
Kazmir signed this deal because he got close to as much money as he probably could’ve gotten with a four-year guarantee and because the opt-out is pure upside. He can hit the open market as the No. 2 or No. 3 free-agent starter next winter and land a four-year deal with a comparable, if not greater annual value, assuming good health.
Agree, but it seems like the deferrals are a big part of this story. This is a technique often used by teams with very limited financial resources. The Dodgers aren’t one of those teams, are they?
But if he plays the three years out and is as effective as he has been he could probably get a two or three year deal next time he hits the market at 35 and still get the 8MM a year from LA on top of whatever his new contract pays him, correct?
Whoa, now we’re hearing about a deferral over six years. Did somebody put Frank McCourt in charge again?
All those deferred dollars have got to put more motivation on Kazmir to opt out. A buck today is almost always worth more than a buck tommorow.
The story has him getting $45M over 3, paid as $8M annually over 5. The math doesn’t work even if the signing bonus isn’t being included in the total.
Make that six… add up now.
The story says $48M now.
Well, it’s much better than giving JA Happ 3/36.
Has a team ever had a 5 man lefty rotation before?
I am very interested in an answer to this question too.
No , but the 54 Senators had a 4 man rotation that was all lefty. They didn’t have 5 man rotations back then. The 2013 White Sox also had 4, but no one has ever run 5.
White Sox got 115 starts from four lefties last year – Sale, Rodon, Danks, and Quintana, but I couldn’t find where a team has had 5 lefties at one time for an extended period.
They had better make sure they’re flush with solid RH relievers. Seems like an awkward fit. When is the last time a team rolled out an all LH rotation?
3.10 ERA in the AL. That’s about a 1.75 ERA in the NL.
there will not be 5 lefties in the rotation come opening day. Zaidi will create package to bring in a rh #2.
Probably roll out 3 lefties in the rotation…
Why is everyone underrating Alex Wood? He’s 24 with plenty of upside and very good pheriphals and WAR. He should be starting and he is affordable. I cannot believe Atlanta gave him up for a thirty year old Olivera.
Alex Wood has lost velocity on his fastball and hasn’t been as effective since.
This could be the Dodgers setting up a deal with the Yanks, Miller to the Dodgers for either Wood or Anderson.
1. He’s already had tommy john in college.
2. His arm action is incredibly wild
3. He’s been losing velocity since he was installed as a starter
4. Braves gave him up for a 30 y/o on an incredibly team friendly contract
5. The Braves have more pitching than spots
6. Alex Woods is just Alex Woods
So the deferred money and the opt-out is an attempt to stay under the luxury threshold next year and beyond while still signing their younger players?
The Dodgers have plenty of money coming off the books, and very little future obligations. People waffle on about how much money they spend, but they aren’t interested in looking at the actual financial position they’ve worked themselves into.
In 2019, the only player the Dodgers are obligated to is Clayton Kershaw, + 8mil for Kemp/Olivera. There are plenty of big market teams that wish they had so little dead money.
Let me see if I’m getting this right.
With no opt out:
2016 – 8m, 2017 – 8m, 2018 – 8m, 2019 – 8m, 2020 – 8m, 2021 – 8m
If he opts out after 2016:
2016 – 8m, 2017 – 8m
He still gets the 8m for 2017, even if he plays for someone else. Is that correct?
He will still be making $16 million per year even if he opts out. Meaning if he gets paid in 2016, then he will receive the 2019 payments, if he gets paid in 2017 then he will get the 2020 payments, and if he gets paid in 2018 then he will get the 2021 payments. I am making a couple of assumptions, but they do seem logical.
This is a good move by the Dodgers, they can now trade either Wood or Anderson to the Yanks for a Miller and next year both De Leon, and Urias will be ready.
Another lefty?!?!
Kershaw, Kazmir, Wood, Ryu, Anderson. Someone find out the last time a team had an all LHP rotation.
the 1954 Senators had 4 lefty starters, but just a 4 man rotation. The 2013 White Sox had 4 lefties as well, but of course they had a 5 man rotation. It’s never been done with 5 lefties.
This upcoming season’s (and last season’s) White Sox rotation potentially has 4 lefties as well (Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Danks).
Never, one will be traded.
Which one though? Kershaw is not going anywhere. They cannot trade Anderson until June because he accepted the QO. Ryu was hurt and has almost no value. Kazmir was just signed, so he’s not going anywhere. That leaves Wood and it makes no real sense to trade him either, But I guess if someone is traded it would logically be him.
They can trade him but it has to be with his permission. After June they can trade him to anyone they want.
He is probably not going to give permission because if he wanted to leave he wouldn’t have accepted the QO. Secondly, no one is trading for Anderson at $15+ million. Thirdly, why would they trade him after June? He is either going to be a solid member of the rotation or he won’t be worth anything of value in a trade.
Well I’m just assuming Anderson is a smart enough guy to realize the deep pitching class this year. To note I believe Strasberg is the only real top of the rotation guy next year. Therefore just like Kazmir betting on themselves if they do well they will be in demand. I also think 15.8 is better than Anderson would have received. I never said the Dodgers would trade him but they possibly could. Plus if the Dodgers did want to get rid of him they would be able to eat some money.
I guess if they feel that Urias or De Leon or some minor leaguer is ready to start, they could try and grab a prospect or two for Anderson, which could be better than a late first round pick.
But you’re right, a trade of Anderson would be extremely unlikely.
thats a lot of injured or injury prone lefties in one staff.
I thought the same thing. lol
An opt-out clause after one year? These are getting a little outrageous.
I wish Kazmir all the best as he is from Houston. Having said that, he didn’t do anything in Aug and Sep for the Astros – he was terrible, and could barely even get to the 5th inning. The Astros would have been much better off with a healthy Scott Feldman as their 5th starter. And believe me, that’s what Kazmir was on the Astros – the 5th starter after Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers and Fiers……and not so good of a 5th starter. Given his age and experience level, and history of arm problems, I would have thought $12-13M/year for 2-3 years would be generous. The Dodgers vastly over-paid, but good for Kazmir that he took advantage of the market.
$16M per for 3 years half deferred is not vastly more than $13M per for 3 years
JA happ got what you’re saying kazmir should get
i think you’re overly focused on what he did for the astros, which is understandable as an astros fan, but not what the industry is going to do. he has a history beyond that one stretch run, and almost all of his other recent work has been very effective
JAHapp also got way too much. As a barometer, Scott Feldman is making $8M this year – Happ is no better than Feldman, as a matter of fact Happ has never sniffed winning 17 games in a season like Feldman has. Happ also used to pitch for the Astros, and was (and still is) in my opinion a 4th/5th starter at best. I do have to say that Happ had better stuff than Kazmir. The way Kazmir pitched in Aug/Sep, he either had a tired arm, or just couldn’t pitch in a pennant stretch, or has some arm issues that may be “buyer beware”. Maybe he’ll revert to pitching like he did with the As = and if he does certainly he’s worth the $16M/year but something tells me he’ll land up on the DL.
The kuckle-curve and change are his pitches, plus good control and GB%. Some of the velocity (1 mph variance) on the FB may be due to pen and that he’s only pitched two years at this level and usage. Third year in could be nice if he hits his stride like 2014 on a club like the Dodgers.
That was supposed to be a reply on Wood…
This all left handed rotation is all the more reason for the Giants to sign Upton or Cespedes.
I can see them trading one of these lefties, may Wood to the Yanks for Miller.
No way that the Yankees would trade miller for Alex wood
Wouldn’t make a big difference for Yo – his career numbers against lefties are worse than those against righties. And in 2015, those splits became even more massive:
.223/.297/.439, 99 wRC+in 155 PA against lefties while striking out 27% of the time
.310/.338/.571, 146 wRC+ in 521 PA against righties, while striking out 19% of the time.
Could just be a small sample size but regardless, he’s always done better against righties than lefties.
Guess I overlooked that. Thanks for the info.
Yeah, it’s very interesting. And getting a relatively intimate look at him, even during his best, he clearly has a problem with lefties. It didn’t seem to me like it was just an unlucky streak; he looked quite overmatched at times against average to below average lefties. Maybe it’s the arm angle and/or trajectory of the pitch.
Kazmir is strictly a #3…just a bandaid…they still need Kenta Maeda or similar plus a bullpen to make a run at S.F. & Arizona!!! ALSO… a second baseman like Howie and an outfielder that can hit!!!
Kazmir AIN’T Gonna Scare S.F. Or Arizona…Dodgers have to do a lot better than that!!!!!
What happens to Bolsinger now?
This is quite possibly the last possible thing that I thought of in regards to this deal. But thank you for bringing that up.
ericw93 is his agent.
he changes his name to Boklaholsinger City
Puts him where he should be – long man / AAA insurance.
Interesting tidbit on Kasmir from Fangraphs:
“This is the new stage of Scott Kazmir: pretty good, somewhat durable, with the biggest fastball-change-up gap in the game as far as starters go. That last quality could conceivably allow Kazmir to age better than he might’ve as a fastball/slider guy. The change-up seems the best it’s ever been, and Kazmir got here by slowing it down.”
Good luck Dodgers. Way way way overpaid but I’m sure you’re used to it by now.
Funny that you could call him overpaid when the prospects that Houston gave up for two months of him was quite strong.
No they weren’t. Nottingham was somewhere around the #10 prospect for Houston and Mendgen wasn’t even top 20. That is not a “quite strong” package of prospects for a starter at the trade deadline. The package for Gomez/Fiers was quite strong, but the package for Kazmir was relatively weak.
A lot of people have Nottingham rated very highly. Sickels had him as a top eighty prospect at one point, and he hasn’t really done anything to lessen the shine. He may not be a C long term but the bat has potential. For a half season rental, it certainly is quite strong.
I’m pretty sure that mendgen was traded because he was tearing it up at AA, and did pretty well at AAA, so I think he had added some value since he was rated
Says the dbacks fan. You must know all about overpay,
Talk about lefties lefties lefties. Better load up on right handed batters when you’re facing the Dodgers.
That’s quite the interesting contract…
The big right handed bats in the NL west are going to hurt the Dodgers.
I heard he got busted for domestic violence and the signing fell threw. There gonna bring back Chad Billingsley instead.
Pair means two