Friday, August 28, 2009

Angels Land Kazmir

UPDATE: OK, nevermind the whole deal falling through thing... Now Buster Olney is reporting that the deal is done.

UPDATED:
MLB.com is now reporting that the Kazmir to the Angels deal fell through.

Lyle Spencer of MLB.com is reporting that according to a club source the Angels are close to landing left-hander Scott Kazmir from the Rays for a pair of prospects.

The Rays will get pitcher Alexander Torres and third baseman Matthew Sweeney in return in the deal, which is expected to be announced later today.

I know he's having a rough year -- 8-7 with a 5.92 ERA -- and has a pretty big contract, but I'm still surprised Tampa is giving up on the 25-years-old and that he cleared waivers.

This could effect the hunt for the best record baseball.

13 Comments:

crossfire said...

Just saw this on espn.

Interesting that the Rays are basically considering dumping salary while in a wild card race.

If I was a fan of the Rays, I would be pissed.

Then again, if I was a fan of the Rays, I would get my head examined.

Greg Cohen said...

hahahahaha

JC said...

Did Kazmir clear waivers, though? Didn't the Angels claim him and that's why they are working on a deal?

I'd read the article myself, but I'm at work. lol

Greg Cohen said...

Good point JC, for some reason I didn't even think of that.

JC said...

Huh. I just read the article on ESPN and it says he cleared waivers early this month.

I thought a team had to claim a player and that's when a deal was worked out?

The whole waiver wire thing is a bit too complicated for me at times, lol.

Greg Cohen said...

lol, I'm very surprised he cleared waivers. If I was Cashman I would have put a claim in a tried to work something out. If I was a lot of GMs I'd do the same.

JC said...

Yeah, that's why it doesn't make sense to me... How does someone like Kazmir clear? I don't get it.

Scotty B said...

he cleared cause of his salary. If you claim him you have to be willing to take on the salary of the player. That being said I think Cashman should have def put a claim in for him.

Danny said...

If he was on waivers and Cashman did not put a claim in then something is very wrong.

chris said...

If he was on waivers and Cashman did not put a claim in then something is very wrong.

Cashman might very well have put in a claim... but since the Yankees have a better record than the Angels, they get claim preference.

Also, this was a salary dump. Kazmir is owed ~$30M over the next three seasons.

chris said...

Sorry, wasn't clear there - the Angels claim on Kazmir effectively blocked the Yankees from any possible claim, if there was any. Since the Yankees have the best record, there's no point in claiming a guy unless you really want him anyway, as you can't block anyone other than the NL.

Greg Cohen said...

Chris, this USA Today article (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2009-08-29-trade-kazmir_N.htm?csp=34) Implies that Kazmir did clear waivers.

Danny said...

Good point Chris, I completely forgot about the record preference