Kazmir?

by metman726 on Jun 10, 2011 11:53 PM EDT

I will preface this by saying...this is a bad post. Still here? Good. According to this article by Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times of Anaheim (you see what I did there?), Scott Kazmir has a 15.15 ERA in AAA and is on the verge of being released by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now you may be asking yourself, "Shouldn't this be a fanshot?" and my answer is yes, but i realized that fanshots can't have polls, so behold, the poll: Should the Mets take a chance and sign Kazmir to a minor league deal if the Angels release him?

Poll

Should the Mets take a chance and sign Scott Kazmir if he is released by the Angels?

Yes

95 votes

No

53 votes

Can we give the Angels Willie Harris for him?

81 votes

229 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.

Tweet Comment 32 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

I think the more interesting poll

would have been something that covered the reasoning of all the other MLB teams that went into allowing Humber reinvent himself under Ozzie Guillen’s watch.

"Intelligence is not a genetic predisposition. Think stupid!!"

by Wright of passage on Jun 11, 2011 12:01 AM EDT reply actions

Yes

I am in favor of the Mets picking him up, if he is released. Firstly, we’d only have to pay him the Major League minimum of $400,000. Even if he is garbage, and we release him after X amount of starts, it’s not like we spent a lot of money on the experiment. That aside, we don’t have that much Minor League depth. We’re one injury to Chris Capuano, who’s an injury-prone guy, from having Pat Misch start. Is Scott Kazmir a better alternative to Pat Misch? Right now, no, but his ceiling and potential is a lot higher. Is he going to suddenly turn into Scott Kazmir 2005-2009, where he averaged 3.5 WAR, with a 5.3 peak in 2007? No, but if, in the National League, he is able to get his K rate to a respectable 6 or 7 per 9, and keep his BB/9 somewhere between 3.5 and 4, he can be an effective back-of-the-rotation starter. His career is very Ollie-ish (a lot better, though), but unlike Ollie, we wouldn’t be paying Kazmir 3/$36, nor would we be counting on him to do his fair share of heavy lifting- he’d be virtually free, and we’d have few expectations, if any.

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jun 11, 2011 12:28 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I agree

Really there is little risk in picking him up if he were released. Like you said we have little starting pitching depth at this point. Kazmir is also someone who has had considerable success at the major league level so there is always that chance he could return to his old form.

by MatthewM11 on Jun 13, 2011 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions

how can you choose yes

and not wish to rid the Mets of Willie at the same time

I LIKE IKE!

by astromets on Jun 11, 2011 1:34 AM EDT reply actions

Excellent point

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by sj10689 on Jun 11, 2011 1:40 AM EDT up reply actions

He's been mind-bogglingly awful but

on a minor league deal? Sure, why not? They could probably use an arm at Buffalo anyway with Cohoon’s struggles there so far and the potential that Carrasco gets called to fill a pen slot. There’s always a chance that he could be fixed in 15 minutes and get back to nearly what he was a couple of years ago.

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by Steve Schreiber on Jun 11, 2011 2:35 AM EDT reply actions

fixed in 15 minutes?

I seem to remember Rick Peterson saying that about one Victor Zambrano

"Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. But to be able to trick people year in and year out the way I did, I think that was a much greater feat." -Bob Uecker
"Who is the girl in the dugout, with the long hair? What's going on here? You have got to be kidding me. Only player personnel in the dugout. I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout." -Kieth Hernandez

by metman726 on Jun 11, 2011 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions

This would just complete the circle of ineptitude and maybe end our...

curse?

by ZZPops on Jun 13, 2011 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought Darryl Hamilton was responsible for our curse

by metman726 on Jun 13, 2011 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes

However, I´d switch him to the bullpen right away where there´s a far bigger need.
Maybe he can get his head straight, find back some of the lost velocity or some confidence pitching in shorter stints and pitching in low pressure roles – at least initially.
That said, it´s highly unlikely that he can find anything close to resembling his former stuff.

by Doob on Jun 11, 2011 3:10 AM EDT reply actions

I picked no, but it's really hard to turn down anyone with potential on a minor league deal

He’s probably done, he’s walking an obscene amount of batters, 17 in 13.2 innings in AAA, and his velocity is down under 87 mph (although that could just be a fluke in his 1.2 innings this season). I’d take a flyer on a minor league deal but that’s it.

by Evan_S on Jun 11, 2011 7:46 AM EDT reply actions

Who's worse him or Pelfrey

if the answer is Pelfrey then i might consider it

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"Grunt and Punt offense"
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by Jadden Hopkins on Jun 11, 2011 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Pelfrey is better

Yogi on the 1969 NY Mets....." overwhelming underdogs "

by SuperSantana on Jun 11, 2011 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

well...Kaz is left-handed, but then again, so was Kaz Ishii

"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"

by feslenraster on Jun 11, 2011 11:50 AM EDT reply actions

Rick Peterson just said

he could fix Scott Kazmir in fifteen minutes.

by Eric Simon on Jun 11, 2011 2:03 PM EDT reply actions 13 recs

hahahaha

comment of the year

What Would Matt Szczur Do?

by Hoyadestroya85 on Jun 11, 2011 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Now you may be asking yourself, "Shouldn't this fan be shot?

and my answer may be yes

When oh when will Scott Kazmir die outta Mets history for god sakes????

by rcnt123 on Jun 11, 2011 2:48 PM EDT reply actions

why not a minor league deal

how could it hurt. if he finds himself we have a decent pitcher, although I see him as a RP now. maybe a 2-3 inning guy, or maybe he can figure it out well enough to be an 8th inning guy in the future

Any task BIG or small, Do it well or not at all

by Rickfansince76 on Jun 13, 2011 8:33 AM EDT reply actions

This is a good point

He could turn out to be a very good relief pitcher and if we were sign him for major league minimum salary there would be little risk if this didn’t work out. If he could turn out to be a long reliever like you suggest this would turn out to be a great signing. How are his platoon splits versus left handed hitters?

by MatthewM11 on Jun 13, 2011 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I dont know if he'd be a good reliever because of all the walks

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jun 13, 2011 4:52 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Right but like you said above

for $400,000 you aren’t taking a huge risk with him. Obviously if he can be an effective starter again that would be best case scenario. I live in Orange County CA so have read quite a bit about the Kazmir situation and I did hear somewhere that they were considering at one point putting him in the pen. Honestly I forgot to consider the walks so I would agree that he likely wouldn’t be an effective reliever. I was just thinking that as a left hander with a quirky delivery he might have some success out of the pen and worst case could be tried as a loogy. Up until this season he had plus velocity for a lefty and throwing from the pen could add a few ticks to his fastball. If his drop in velocity this year is due to something that can be corrected he could find some success out of the pen. Just a thought.

by MatthewM11 on Jun 13, 2011 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions

make him a closer

seriously.

I think it was Bobby V who said: "You are never as good as you are when you are at your best, and you are not as bad as when you are at your worst."

by gbaked on Jun 15, 2011 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

He's only 27 and should be entering his prime

If the velocity is actually down that far he may be battling an injury (shocker). But on a minor league deal for depth and the outside chance that he figures it out again there really isn’t much downside to taking a shot. His walk rates are ridiculous but he’s striking out 8.6/9 so it really just comes down to him regaining some form of control.

by ZZPops on Jun 13, 2011 12:27 PM EDT reply actions