Kaz is Staying

[Eddiey]

Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir agreed Wednesday to a $28.5 million, three-year extension through 2011, a deal with a club option that could raise the contract's value to $39.5 million over four seasons.

[ChrisCoogan]

Great signing. I still would not be surprised if TB uses Kaz and his very valuable long term contract to go out and get a key guy that may help them down the long-stretch this season if they are still in the playoff picture.

[KCGHOST]

When you consider league average starters are getting four and five year deals at $11M+ per year this is a real deal for the Rays.

[raysnbran]

I guess this puts the rumors to rest that Kaz will be in pinstripes or red socks in the near future

[zengator]

I guess this puts the rumors to rest that Kaz will be in pinstripes or red socks in the near future

The "wait 'til they play for us" nonsense probably won't stop since it was never based in reality, even in the LaMar days. The Yankees / Sox have only ever picked up the Rays' leavings - Miguel Cairo and Travis Lee and an end-of-the-line Tino Martinez. There's NO WAY the team lets a current Ray in his prime go to a division rival.

[Evangelion]

Great signing. I still would not be surprised if TB uses Kaz and his very valuable long term contract to go out and get a key guy that may help them down the long-stretch this season if they are still in the playoff picture.

Trade away one of your best starters if you're in the race? I doubt that.

Kazmir and Shields should be the front end of the Tampa rotation for years to come.

[zengator]

Trade away one of your best starters if you're in the race? I doubt that.

Kazmir and Shields should be the front end of the Tampa rotation for years to come.

I wouldn't discount trading him at some point before this contract is done, obviously for a very impressive group of players in return. His small size + power pitching + high pitch counts worry me over the long haul.

I'd feel a lot better if he didn't try to strike out every single batter and just pitched to contact when the situation allows. Way too often, he gets a guy 0-2 and then proceeds to try to throw harder and harder, missing his spots and evening the count. Throw in a few foul balls (of which he seems to get a ton) and you've got a 10 pitch at-bat that really shouldn't have gone past 3 or 4.

It's hard to change a power pitcher's mentality, but now that he's probably here for a while, somebody needs to convince him that he should just pitch and not try so hard for that impressive swinging third strike. It would prolong his career. The funny thing is, I bet he'd strike out more batters looking if he'd actually throw strikes at 0-2 or 1-2.

[Evangelion]

I wouldn't discount trading him at some point before this contract is done, obviously for a very impressive group of players in return. His small size + power pitching + high pitch counts worry me over the long haul.

I'd feel a lot better if he didn't try to strike out every single batter and just pitched to contact when the situation allows. Way too often, he gets a guy 0-2 and then proceeds to try to throw harder and harder, missing his spots and evening the count. Throw in a few foul balls (of which he seems to get a ton) and you've got a 10 pitch at-bat that really shouldn't have gone past 3 or 4.

It's hard to change a power pitcher's mentality, but now that he's probably here for a while, somebody needs to convince him that he should just pitch and not try so hard for that impressive swinging third strike. It would prolong his career. The funny thing is, I bet he'd strike out more batters looking if he'd actually throw strikes at 0-2 or 1-2.

Oh yes, I won't either. But, the year he signed the contract? I doubt that. The only pitcher in recent memory to be dealt after signing a contract, a team friendly one, would be Arroyo from a couple of seasons ago. Down the road, Shields and Kazmir could be dealt, like any other player, but if you're in playoff race, I don't see you dealing your top two starting pitchers. Even for a need, starting pitchers value is high, especially for teams looking to go into the playoffs.

[zengator]

No no no, I don't mean they'll trade him any time soon - maybe in a season or two if he doesn't alter his style. There are enough young arms in the pipeline that pretty much anybody could be moved for the right price.

[Imgran]

Don't try too hard to change Kaz into another pitcher -- he's fine as he is.

Is it just me or there are a lot of very injury-prone pitchers whose primary breaking pitch is the slider rather than the curve, and not so much the reverse?

[raysnbran]

Kaz is ON tonight. 9 K's thru 5 innings, only 1 hit givem up. All his pitches are working, and most of all, he's not going 3-2 on every batter and then getting Ks. He's putting them away early in the count and not wasting pitches. He looks dominating tonight. Pitching and defense has gotten us to the best record in baseball (tied with AZ), and now the bats are starting to wake up. If we can keep this up, who knows

[zengator]

Yes, that was Good Kaz tonight.

[zengator]

Apparantly, Kazmir is indeed making the kind of adjustments I mentioned. Nice to know that this forum has so much influence on the team.