This is what happens when you give up on your team

The moment I heard about the Scott Kazmir trade, I knew this was what we were going to be left with.

Argue about the prospects. Argue about the money. Argue about the future. Argue all you want, but this is what happens when you give up on a a team: The team gives up on you.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of blame to go around.  We can blame Joe Maddon. We can blame the Carlos Pena injury. We can blame the bullpen. But ultimately, the slide started the day the Rays front office secretly traded Scott Kazmir to another contending AL team.

Maybe ownership learned a valuable lesson this year. Maybe they learned the value of a "team" over the value of "money." I'm not asking them to break the bank to compete. I'm not even asking for trading deadline additions. All I'm asking is that the Rays front office give this team the chance to win.  That chance was clearly taken from them and their play on the field shows.

Guest Post: Reasons to support the Scott Kazmir trade

Editor: This is a guest post from Stephanie, a fervent Rays fan who wanted to get her thoughts about the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to the Angels. Rays Revolutionary has gone on record questioning the timing of the trade during a playoff hunt. Stephanie provides a differing view point.

I had been so busy at work on that Friday that I hadn't had a chance
to look at any baseball related news. On my way home, I got a message
asking me what I thought of the Kaz trade. It was a good thing I was
at a red light when I read it, as I might have driven off the road
otherwise - I didn't have a clue what was going on, all I knew is that
I didn't want to lose Kaz. Having watched what was Kaz's last start
at the Trop in a Rays uniform (though I didn't know it at the time),
the standing ovation he received made me think of him as the prodigal
son for all long-time Rays fans. He had taken a lot from the fans in
the first half of the year, but the emotion behind the ovation was
more than just fans being happy about a well-pitched game, it was
pride in watching our boy return to form as the best pitcher the Rays
ever had. For me, Scotty was more than just a baseball player, and
trading him hit me personally. Although I had been crushed when Sonny
and Joe Nelson were sent down, at least they were still in the
organization.

Unlike the rest of the fanbase, who has gone through the same sadness
and confusion that I did, I haven't felt the anger or resignation that
a lot of people have expressed. Some people have accused me of being
a fangirl, and they're right. I am a big fan of not only the team,
but of the front office, and where possible, I'm going to look for
reasons to support what they do.

It is clear that the decision to trade Scott Kazmir carried a heavy
price. We can debate the odds that the Rays were going to make the
playoffs before and after the trade, whether it hurt the team or
helped. Either way, they've taken a big hit in terms of public
perception and fan reaction. They have certainly lost some ticket
sales, some merchandise sales, some fan loyalty. I don't know the
exact dollar figure, but it was certainly a predictable loss. The
front office isn't stupid either - they knew that this reaction would
happen. Any discussion of the Kazmir trade, then, starts with one of
two possibilities. Either the team is run by complete morons who woke
up one morning and decided that slapping the fanbase would be a good
lark or they felt that the hit they would take for trading him would
be worth it.

Is it a straight salary dump? I think it's hard to argue that it is.
If we wind up with a significantly lower payroll next year, I'll take
this statement back, but I'm guessing, between contract increases,
Garza, Upton, Howell, and Bartlett all going to arb. or being signed
to a long term deal, and needing to do something with Niemann, that
the 2010 payroll will be higher. Nor do I think it was dumping salary
for this year alone; I would estimate between the salaries they added
after the deadline combined with the hit in attendance that it comes
out essentially neutral.

So if it wasn't salary, what could make it worth the hit to trade him
in the middle of the wild card hunt? I believe it was a pure risk
evaluation. There's a lot we'll never know about players, and I won't
pretend to guess at what information the front office has on Kaz. I
do know that, before the year started, there were a fair number of
journalists and sportswriters arguing that the Rays should trade
Kazmir because he had peaked. I don't really agree with that, but
there were enough people repeating it that the idea was at least out
there. Unfortunately, Kaz didn't do a whole lot to refute the theory
during his first half. It was undeniably bad. 7.11 ERA, 1.79 WHIP
He had worked back up to an ERA+ of 77 by the time he was traded. If
he finished out the year strong, teams would probably be willing to
chalk up the first half to a fluke. It's not inconceivable, however,
that he could have ended up with a couple more bad starts - say, rough
outings at New Yankee Stadium and at Fenway - even if all his
mechanical and psychological issues are truly behind him and he has
returned to form as a dominate pitcher. The Rays would be left in the
uncomfortable position of trying to trade a starter with a 6 or 7 ERA
with a reputation for being emotional and due $22.5 million. During
the off season, their leverage would be next to non-existent, as
everyone knows the Rays payroll has limitations and Kaz is a big chunk
of that. As a free agent, almost everyone would take a chance on
Kazmir, in a trade, the centerpiece might well have been the money,
with some roster hamsters thrown in as secondary considerations.

There's a further risk - the economy has changed. Remember that the
Yankees didn't pull the trigger on a trade for Brian Bannister because
the *Royals* wouldn't kick in a few hundred thousand dollars. It's
easy to say that they'd be able to trade with all 29 teams after the
season, but it's not really the case - you're still talking about
being limited to probably 4 or 5 teams or so, 2 of which are in the
division.

I'm not *happy* about Kazmir traded, and I'm less happy about the
timing. However, the market size and share of the Rays means that
hard decisions are going to have to be made sometimes. Sternberg's
"get used to it" comment riled a lot of people, but I think it's a
fair comment. They're going to have to make trades and decisions that
are difficult and sometimes not optimal because they can't afford to
do otherwise. Once I accepted that, I don't think the trade looks
awful. I want the Rays to do everything they can to maximize their
chances at the playoffs this year - but I keep in mind that this team
isn't build to just contend this year; they're built for a decade of
dominance. The reason running a major league team is hard is because
questions don't have easy answers. Weighing the risk of Kaz finishing
poorly, the risk of making bad trade, the risk of not being able to
make a trade at all, the changed economy, the hit to playoff chances
this year, playoff chances next year, the hit with the fanbase...there
are an awful lot of competing factors.

I don't know whether the Kazmir trade will end up being good or bad.
There will be times that the front office will end up making bad
decisions, whether this one or others. The bottom line for me is that
I do trust that the front office is absolutely vested in putting a
superior team on the field, year in and year out. They won't be
perfect, but I don't know anyone that I would rather have running this
team. This trade has done nothing to change how I feel about the
team. It's been a rough year, but it's also been our 2nd best year
ever. We are playing meaningful games in September, for the 2nd year
in a row, and the 2nd year ever. Not much broke right for us this
year, but we have an outside chance now, and next year looks good.
That's worth supporting.

Since the Rays aren't bothering, why should I?

Today I'm going to forgo my usual column about the Rays. I figure if they don't have to show up, why should I?

The Rays are 3-6 since trading Scott Kazmir.

Robo-Los tries to exorcise Scotty Kazmir

Look what I arrived in the newsroom this afternoon: Robo Los. Kids going to the Trop on Sunday will get Robo-Los.

Robo-Los wasted no time taking over my desk and working to exorcise any ghost of Scotty Kazmir. He knocked some sense into the bobblehead with a piledriver. Robo-Los said [in best Arnold Terminator voice], "We're going to smack around the Boston Red Sox tonight!"

Go Rays! Beat Boston!

Pending Implosion?

If you thought the past few games were rough, get ready. It could get worse.

When a middle reliever starts questioning game strategy after a heart-breaking loss, you can just feel the implosion coming. The comments in question came from Grant Balfour, who gave up the game-winning 3-run homer to Placido Polanco.

Balfour said, "They come out and say can I pitch around him. I don't want to pitch around Granderson to be honest. I feel like I'm pitching on the defense them. I wish I never even got that in my head."

It sounds like the players aren't too happy with management these days. And that's the part of the equation that ownership didn't figure when they decided to trade Scott Kazmir. In order for this team to be successful, the players have to "believe." That was the rallying cry last year. Now, the Rays have put some doubt in their players head. They don't believe. They're not drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid.

John Romano of the St. Pete Times wrote a column this morning about the impact of losing players on the team from last year to this year. He talked to Johnny Gomes, Cliff Floyd, and Eric Hinske.  I think Hinske (who's on his way to another AL East Division crown) had the most telling quote of the piece.

He said, "The one thing that the guys upstairs on the computers can't assess is clubhouse chemistry. They can look at all the numbers they want, but chemistry in the clubhouse is a huge deal."

I think he's right. Chemistry and belief are something that the Rays need to place a premium on if they're going to compete with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.  This year, both are in short supply. Unfortunately, the team could use a little bit before facing the Red Sox this week.

Here are some things I noticed in the Rays 4-3 loss to the Tigers:

• Niemann still battling. Give credit to the starting pitcher yesterday. He battled like a champ for 7 innings.  Niemann is the one guy who seemingly still believes. He did exactly what he was supposed to, giving the Rays shut down innings and matching Tigers' ace Juster Verlander pitch for pitch. He gets to do it again on Friday.
  

• Aki-san homer. I've got to be honest, I didn't realize Akinori Iwamura hadn't hit a homer all year. It was good to see him go opposite field yesterday.
  

• Red Sox aren't discounting the Rays. The Red Sox are ready to put the wild card chase to bed this week. They shuffled their rotation so the Rays would get a rotation of Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz. The Red Sox have the chance to pretty much end the Rays wild card chances this week.  Andy Sonnanstine will get the nod on Tuesday.
  

• September call-ups. Expect to see some additional faces starting Tuesday.  Sonnanstine, Perez, a catcher, Wade Davis and a couple of others could be joining the team.  This is the depth Andrew Friedman was talking about when he said they could afford to trade Scott Kazmir. We'll see on Tuesday.
  

More reaction from the Kazmir deal

Now that the dust has settled a bit and Andrew Friedman has had time to give his reasoning, it's time to take another look at the Friday deal that sent Scott Kazmir to the Angels for 2 prospects and a player to be named later.

Let's start with how the Rays handled the trade. The Rays were way behind the curve from the get go on this one. News first broke via an Angels beat writer on MLB.com and spread like wildfire via social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.  So instead of getting a call from the GM, reporters hearing about the rumors had to confront Kazmir who actually asked if they were "joking." Joe Maddon didn't have anything to say. In fact, the team said there wouldn't be an announcement until after the game. Even though he was all but gone, there sat Kazmir next to David Price on the bench during Friday night's game.

 

Following the game, the Rays sent out a press release making it official without giving any sound.  We got a couple of quotes from Andrew Friedman in the newspaper and then the message started taking shape.

"We have depth in starting pitching," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "And while it would be a great luxury to keep a deep reserve there, our budgetary constraints as a low-revenue club dictate that we allocate our resources to bolster areas where we may not be as deep and make sure that we can expand our competitive window."

That quote makes perfect sense, unless you're talking about a team that was just 3.5 games behind the wild card leader at the time the trade was made. If you take them at face value, that means the Rays place their "budgetary constraints as a low-revenue club" over being successful on the field.  That's where my problem lies.

I'm fine making moves to help make budget and keep the payroll down. I applaud ownership for what they've been able to do so far.  I'm fine with tough off-season moves. I'm fine with not picking guys up during before the trade deadline. But this trade, at this time, just tells me that the budget trumps giving the team a chance to win.

The Rays can talk all day and night about "future" considerations when it comes to trading Kazmir. But, they're discounting the fact that they may not always be in a playoff race. This is only the second time in the history of the team that the Rays have contended so late. You can have all the talent in the world, but a couple of ill-timed injuries, a rough schedule, or a division opponent getting red hot all make it tough to contend year in and year.  Just as last year was special, this year is special.Why waste it by unloading Kazmir right now? I have no doubt there are teams that would be willing to take on his salary next year for the chance to see the Kaz of old.

Despite what people keep writing, the Rays did not have to make that trade on Friday.  That trade could've waited until the off-season. But the Rays had a willing partner that was willing to absorb the rest of Kaz's salary this year, so they made the move. They save money on this year's payroll and say that Andy Sonnanstine and Wade Davis will do a fine job of replacing Kaz in the rotation.

The Rays proved to me on Friday something that I didn't want to believe: they're the same team they always were. My eyes were opened up a bit and the luster of the "Rays" has worn off.  This team considers the budget more than they do going to the wild card. Last season caught them off guard, just as it did the fans. They thought a couple of well-placed pieces could get them over the top. Instead they were left realizing they had too much money tied up in a team that wasn't in first place. So, they sold.

"This decision goes against every bit of passion in a competitor's soul"

Normally this time of day, I'm writing a recap of the previous night's game.  But since the players decided to take the night off in honor of Scott Kazmir's last game, I'm not going to justify that garbage with a post.  Not that I blame them. If management seems to think 3.5 games are too much to overcome, why shouldn't the players.

Maybe I'm not the most sophisticated of fans. Maybe I don't care about the "business" of baseball.  Maybe I have too much of a "win now" philosophy.

I think John Romano summed up my thoughts in his column from the St. Pete Times this morning:

"This decision goes against every bit of passion in a competitor's soul. When you have a chance to win, you do whatever possible to take advantage. By completing this deal, the Rays have sent the opposite message."

That's where the problem lies for me. The message.

Other sites are looking at the bright side of the deal.

The Rays Party chooses to look more at the "Rise of Wade Davis" as opposed to the loss of Kazmir. I agree, that's one way of looking at it. But if Wade Davis was a better option than Kaz, he would've already been here. No matter how you look at it, Davis is not going to push the Rays over the hump and in to the playoffs.

The guys over at DRaysBay say this deal really didn't affect the Rays playoff chances too much one way or the other.  They say that this deal kills any notion that the Rays front office cares about public perception.  And finally, they're excited to see what the front office can do with extra cash in the off-season.

Like I said, I understand the Rays playoff chances weren't the greatest. But fan reaction isn't the only thing to consider.  The Rays also have to consider the reaction of their own players and players around the league.  This kind of move shows a front runner mentality that won't be easily overcome. And maybe this kind of move will be more common than you think. There's no guarantee that the Rays won't try to move Carl Crawford this off-season.

Bye-bye, Scotty. Bye-bye, season.

Shocked. That's the emotion I felt when I heard the first rumblings of the Scotty Kazmir trade. Why trade Kazmir? Why now? Why trade a starter when the wild card is still up for grabs?

The mechanics of the trade are simple. The Rays moved the franchise's all-time wins leaders for 2 prospects.  The Anaheim Angels get Scott Kazmir. The Rays get left-handed pitcher Alex Torres, third-baseman Matt Sweeney, and the ever popular "Player to be Named Later." To boil it down: The Rays, in the middle of a playoff hunt, traded for prospects.

To say I'm upset about this turn of events is an understatement. The Rays were getting ready to face a do or die stretch of their season.  They are still in a playoff hunt.  They were 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox with 6 games remaining against them. And instead of facing the stretch head on, management trades one of the starting pitchers. Not only that, they trade a starting pitcher that's actually looked good his last couple of starts. Kazmir was someone who could actually help the team now.

As it stands now, it looks like the Rays' front office threw in the towel. I know that some are saying the Rays were looking toward the future. I know that some say the Rays are just selling high. But, I say they're giving up. Does anyone actually think the Rays couldn't get an AA pitcher and a single-A 3rd baseman in the offseason?  Why the rush?

Of course, Andrew Friedman and company could have a master plan.  They say they don't make moves in a vacuum. But, if that's the case, they handled today real poorly.  The rumors started flying hours before the game and we didn't get official word until after the game with a short press release saying a bunch of things we already knew. Kazmir had to find out from reporters in the locker room before the game!

And even if I do accept the premise that this was "just business," what about the team? Think about the message this kind of move sends to the team.  To me, the team looked shell-shocked. They didn't want to be there. If Scotty gets sent west, who's next? We're all one team. Right?

I hope this is more than just a salary dump. But, to be honest, something really stinks here.  This is only the 2nd time the Rays have ever contended this late in the season and here we are doing the same thing we did before last year. To me, it's as if the curtain has been pulled back on the wizard.

Reaction to Friday's big events

Friday could turn out to be one of the biggest days of the season for the Rays.  It all started innocently enough with a quick message on the Durham Bulls twitter account saying: +@#" and *#@+;! just got called up to the bigs. With that it was off to the races for journalists, bloggers, and other MLB rumor fans.  Around lunchtime, it was confirmed that Dale Thayer and Reid Brignac were coming to the team.  But, when who they were replacing wasn't confirmed the speculation just continues.  Was a trade in the works? Was somebody hurt?

Soon, we knew the answer. Andrew Friedman flew down to Miami and let us know that Troy Percival and Scott Kazmir were on the disabled list and David Price was coming to the big leagues. That's right. The day we've all been waiting for starts on Monday. The Price era begins in Tampa Bay.

According to the St. Pete Times, manager Joe Maddon says it's likely Troy Percival will retire. He told the team his arm was numb when he took the mound the other day and couldn't let his teammates down any more. There's plenty of hate on Percy, but I think he was an integral part of getting this team to the next level last year.  Who could forget in spring training when he compared the Rays starting rotation to the old Atlanta Braves rotation?  He was a veteran leader that the bullpen missed in 2007.  He helped teach guys like Balfour and Howell how to be effective.  Many Rays fans I know blasted me for defending Percy as much as I did, but I will say that the team was better for having him here.

As for Scott Kazmir, it looks like a little rehab is just what the doctor ordered.  I'm really rooting for Kaz.  He's the single most successful pitcher in Rays history... and he's only 25.  The Rays need this guy to get back to form if they're going to keep making runs this year and next.  Just imagine the 2007 Kazmir following Price in the rotation with a Matt Garza and "Big Game" James Shields start thrown in there. The Yankees could only dream of buying such a rotation. The Red Sox would need more than Jason Bay to keep up.  I think we haven't seen the last of Scotty Kazmir this year.  I think once he clears his head and gets back on track, we'll see the Kaz of 2007.  A guy, on a bad team, you didn't want to miss his start.

Rays fail to hold on to momentum

If the Rays have an Achilles heal this year, it appears to be the upstart Baltimore Orioles.  For the second time this season, the Orioles stopped any momentum the Rays gathered after winning a series against the Red Sox.  Again tonight, the Rays seemed uninterested.  They seemed as though they were sleepwalking through the game, figuring if they did just enough... they'd win. Unfortunately for the home team, the Orioles batters didn't get the memo.  They knocked in 4 runs of "Vulcan" reliever Joe Nelson and that was enough.

Here are some of the things I noticed:

• So close, yet so far... again.  It's becoming a recurring theme this year. The Rays give up an early lead and spend the rest of the game chasing a carrot they'll never get.
  

• Wild Thing or Kazmanian Devil.  Scott Kazmir's performance against the first three batters set the tone for the entire game.  Two walks, followed by a 3 run homer is not the way to start the game.  He did alright, once he settled in.  But, it's tough for any pitcher when you spot the other team 3 runs before even giving up an out.
  

• The .150 Brothers make it hard to get a rally going.  Against the Red Sox, the .150 brothers (B.J. Upton and Dionar Navarro) weren't really a factor.  Michel Hernandez took over for Navarro a couple games and Bossman got a couple of hits.  But, tonight, they're struggles were spotlighted a couple of times late in the game.  Both failed to do anything all night going 0-9 between them. Now that Joe Maddon has moved Navarro down to the ninth spot, you get him and Bossman batting back to back.  It seems like an automatic 2 outs.
  

• After the game, Maddon says he saw a lot of good stuff especially after giving up 3 runs early. He said the fight was good, but they just couldn't get the hit or the pitch they need.  He also addressed the .150 brothers saying Bossman had a couple of good shots at the shortstop and is further along than Navi.  Must be the wine talking!
  
  
• I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the AL Player of the Week, Evan Longoria. In true Longo fashion, he credited his teammates for his success this year:"because they're worried about Carl stealing bases, so they have to throw me fastballs. And if [Pena] wasn't hitting, they'd probably just throw me breaking balls and let him steal, then just walk me and I'll go to first. But they can't do that with him hitting behind me."
  
  Is there any question that Longo should be the starting 3rd baseman for the AL All-Star Team this year? Sorry A-Roid, your days are over. 
  

Check it out: Rays tales - St. Petersburg Times

This almost escaped my attention this morning.  The St. Pete Times had a nice little article comparing local high school pitching maching Patrick Shuster to another former prep machine... Scotty Kamir.  It's worth checking out the link just to see the picture of the Kazmanian Devil as a high school kid.

Rays tales - St. Petersburg Times

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Morning Round-up: Kazmanian Devil Edition

Here are some thoughts about the Rays victory over the Red Sox last night.  As always, my comments are in italics:

- The Boston Herald ran a poll: What was the Red Sox' problem of the game on Wednesday? As of this morning, it's split pretty evenly between poor Red Sox pitching (39%) and Tampa Bay's pitching was too good (41%). As much as I like to hate on the Red Sox, I have to give their fans credit for really knowing the game. Even the most die hard, chowdah-head can acknowledge a great performance by the Kazmanian Devil. 

- Herald columnist Steve Buckley tries to calm Red Sox Nation down with this column: Two sides to this loss.  I like the guy's optimism. He breaks down the fifth inning and tries to absolve Lester a little bit.  But, no matter how you slice it, Lester's walk of Kapler and Pena's home run ball both fall squarely on Lester's shoulders. You can nit pick all you want about what happened in between.

- Boston Globe writer Adam Kilgore wrote this nice description of the Pena's homer:

Lester tried to sneak a cutter past Peña. "He pretty [well] knows what's coming," Lester said. "We're not going to screw around with him there. Threw it middle, middle" - over the plate's heart and at Peña's belt. Peña unleashed a vicious swing and then posed for a moment, sending the ball through the pitch-black night and into the first row above the triangle. A taut game had suddenly become a 5-1 beating.

That speaks for itself!

Kaz is back! Rays win 1st game of the season.

It seems like it was just a year ago when the Rays couldn't buy a game at Fenway. Now, it seems like they just go up there and take a workman's approach to grinding out a win against the Red Sox in their own crib.  Scott Kazmir looked like the ace from 2007.  He easily out dueled Jon Lester giving up 5 hits with only 2 of them being legitimate.  It was nice to see him go without worrying about pitch count from the 2nd inning on.

On the offensive side of the ball, a little small ball and a little long ball was all the Rays need to keep the Sox at bay and win their first game of the 2009 season.  Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria both went deep.  The Aki/Bartlett show proved once again the genius that is Joe Maddon.

Full Story:

MLB.com

Here are some of my post-game observations:

• Scott Kazmir is the ace of this team. If you had any doubts, tonight's performance shows it. He went into hostile territory and put the game on his shoulders.  It seemed like he wasn't pressing as much for strikeouts tonight as he was last year.  That's a good sign. Get the outs and the "K's" will come.

• Carlos Pena's 2 out home run was huge for a number reasons.  It knocked Lester out of the game (more on that later), it took almost all the energy out of Fenway and the Sox, it got Pena out of his 0-6 slump to start the season, and it pretty much put the game out of the Red Sox reach.

• Maddon continues to show his managing genius.  The safety squeeze to score Kapler in the 5th was a perfect way to really get that rally going.  But, it was the hit and run with Kapler on 1st and Aki at the plate that was key to that inning.  Aki was able to punch the ball into left field in the spot Jed Lowrie had just vacated to cover 2nd.  Great way to manage base runners in a game where runs could be at a premium.

• On the other side, Francona's decision to keep Lester in to face Pena came back to haunt him.  I can see the reasons why Francona wanted to keep Lester in, but he probably should've pulled the plug.  It just goes to show that Francona's still concerned about early middle relief against the Rays lineup (their achilles heal last year). 

• The Red Sox/Rays match-up is still one of the best in baseball right now.  These teams have truly become rivals over the past year.  It's good to see that the Rays didn't forget how to win at Fenway over the winter.