Point The Finger: Sean Rodriguez vs. Scott Kazmir

Trades, trades, and more trades. Trading players in the MLB is an essential part to building a contender. Baseball is different than other sports where you can rebuild a franchise within a year or two. In baseball rebuilding can easily take 5 or more years. First, you have to trade off any veteran player with any worth. Second, you have to choose wisely in the draft. Third, you have to give young players a chance to play and develop. All of this means a lot of L’s in the standings. Ask the Pittsburgh Pirates or Kansas City Royals. There is obviously much more than that (timely free agent signings, etc.) that goes into building a winner.

Current Rays general manager Andrew Friedman has mastered the art of trading. Former Rays G.M. Chuck Lamar, not so much. There always was the Scott Kazmir trade though. With the Rays way out of it in 2004 and nearing the MLB trade deadline and the Mets within reach of the wildcard the Mets pulled the trigger on a deal that sent the young, talented lefty Scott Kazmir to the Rays for right handed veteran pitcher Victor Zambrano. What a deal! Zmabrano was a mediocre pitcher at best and was the last player ever acquired by then Mets G.M. Steve Phillips. Phillips was fired in the off season. So you see trades can make or break a G.M’s career.

After winning a rotation spot out of spring training in 2005, Kazmir, had an impressive rookie season. He showed a lot of promise ending the year with a winning record on a terrible team. He always had some control issues, but was still young and growing into a pitcher instead of a thrower. Or so they thought. Everything seemed to be coming together for Kazmir, he had a nasty slider to go along with a mid 90’s fastball. For four years he had a winning record and lead the A.L. in K’s in 2007. Then something started to change in 2008. I am not a pitching coach so I’m not sure if it’s mechanics or confidence or lack of caring but he has not been the same since. All of the sudden he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. His pitches were all over the place. At one point his control was so bad, the Rays had to send him down to the minors to try and work it out.

Before the start of the 2009 season the Rays rewarded him with a hefty 3 year/$28.5M contract extension. He was still owed over 22M for 2010 and 2011 when the Rays decided enough was enough. After watching him struggle through the first half of the 2009 season the Rays traded the southpaw to the Angels for minor league prospects. The Angels were willing to risk that Kazmir, still just 25, could regain his form. After watching him pitch vs. the Rays last Monday night, 8/23, he is still the same frustrating pitcher to watch. The talent seems to still be there, but something is missing. His pitch counts get way too high, too fast and he can’t ever pitch past the sixth inning.

Monday night in the Rays starting lineup was Sean Rodriguez. He is one of the prospects the Rays acquired in the deal for Kazmir. After a huge spring training, S-ROD played his way onto the team and has never looked back. After starting the year in a three-way platoon situation with Reid Brignac and Ben Zobrist, S-ROD is now getting regular at-bats. He is very still and quite at the plate but produces a tremendous amount of power for a smaller guy. A middle infielder will his bat is hard to find in today’s game. He had 29 bombs, 93 rib’s and a .299 average at triple a in 2009.

Sean Rodriguez has shown enough, in my opinion, to be the everyday second basemen in 2011 and beyond. With Longo, S-ROD, Brignac and Zobrist all under contract for atleast the next 4 years I can see that being the infield of the future for the Rays (Zobrist moving to first base full time next season after Carlos Pena leaves). Bottom line: I wouldn’t trade Scott Kazmir for Sean Rodriguez straight up right now. Along with the Rays dumping Kazmir’s contract on the Angels, the Rays killed them on this deal. Not to mention Kazmir’s departure leaving a rotation spot open for Wade Davis/Jeremy Hellickson. This is just an example of why the Rays new regime has done so well in a small market. By adding pieces like S-ROD the Rays can stay in contention year to year and keep their payroll at a minimum.