Kazmir Shipped to Angels

In a deal that not a lot of people outside of the organization saw coming, The Rays sent lefty Scott Kazmir to the Angels. In return the Rays received prospects Alex Torres and Matt Sweeney, and a player to be named later. Lets take a closer look at this deal.

Kazmir leads the Rays organization in about every all-time pitching category, but don't let those numbers fool you. He was not the pitcher they were expecting when received him from the Mets. Kaz was inconsistent and injury prone throughout his Rays career. When this lefty pitcher is on he is hard to hit, but most of the time he struggles to get through five innings. Kazmir also seemed to not gel very well with his teammates or fans. Don't get me wrong the Angels are getting a talented lefty, but I understand why the Rays made this deal.

Alex Torres is a 21-year-old lefty, who is 13-4 with a 2.75 ERA in the minors.

Matt Sweeney, 21, is a two time minor league all star that plays third base and designated hitter.

In the short term it might appear that Angels got the better side of the deal, getting a talented starter to shore up their rotation. This deal does give them the ability to win now. On the other side, only time will tell how the Rays will fare with this trade. Kazmir's salary was a lofty one, and this frees up some money that Tampa Bay could use for a free-agent.

Wade Davis, whom I saw pitch in Montgomery, will be called up. He will be a nice addition to the rotation for the future. This trade also frees up a roster spot, which was taken by Akinori Iwamura who just came of the disabled list.

Pitching Woes a Problem for Rays

Last seasons spectacular run by the Tampa Bay Rays was in a large part due to the outstanding work of the starting pitching and bullpen. The team ERA was 3.82 and two starters had 14 wins. Every pitcher in the rotation had at least 10 wins. They were led by James Shields, who had a record of 14 wins and 8 losses. The combination of young pitching and a dependable bullpen led the Rays to a match up with their AL East foe the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Matt Garza pitched brilliantly in the series, and propelled the Rays to their first World Series appearance. He was later named the ALCS mvp. Super prospect David Price was nearly un-hittable in the post-season.

This year has proved to be a completely different story. The consistent pitching that the Rays leaned so heavily on in '08, has been anything but in '09. In fact the starting rotation has been consistently, inconsistent. Who would have guessed that starter Jeff Neimann would be leading the team in both wins(11), and ERA(3.71)? Shields, last year's ace, is 7-10 this year.

Lets take a look at a stretch of three starts from Shields

July 17th vs. KC 5.1 IP 11H 7ER 3K's

July 22 th vs. CHW 6.2 IP 4H 2ER 4K's

July 27th vs. NYY 5.1 IP 9H 5 ER 2K's

Shields sandwitched a quality start between two less than stellar outings. Garza has been dominant at times, while faltering at others. One game he will pitch a complete game, then the next he won't be able to get out of the 4th inning. As goes for Price, whose control seems to abandon him sometimes. Reliever Grant Balfour, who had an ERA of 1.54 last year, has watched it balloon up to 4.29 this year.

Bottom line is that if the Rays want to be a serious contender this year or next, the pitching is going to have to find a way to be consistently good. That is what distinguishes the top teams from those in the middle of the pack. The Rays also desperately need some help on the road, where they have struggled all year.

Rays Pitcher Suffers Head Injury from Line Drive

Rays Double A pitcher Darin Downs was in serious but stable condition after being hit directly in the temple with a line drive, this past Monday night. Downs, a 24-year-old lefty for the Montgomery Biscuits suffered a fractured skull and still remains in the hospital. The liner ricocheted off the pitcher and landed in the opposing team's dugout.

What is happening in baseball lately? This past week Mets 3B David Wright was hospitalized and suffered a concussion after an inside pitch struck him in the head. Then Dodgers SP Hiroki Kuroda was hit in the head and rushed to the hospital. I am almost thinking that pitchers need to start wearing helmets, because sometimes line drives will come so quick that there is absolutely no time to react. These instances are compromising players health and safety, and something needs to be done.

Any head injury is a serious deal, and possibly life threatening. All we can do is pray for Downs and his family, and hope for a speedy and complete recovery. His physical and mental health is the most important thing. God Willing he will be able to come back and play the game he loves most. An injury like this could end a career, leaving some pitchers never the same. Lets hope that is not the case for this talented pitcher.