"By no means do I think we are out of the race because of this particular move. Not at all."
That was Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon this week, pledging his confidence in a team that's trying to stay in a pennant race despite just having dealt away its longtime ace. That's never easy, is it?
The Rays made a bold move last weekend in the midst of their chase for the AL wild card, dealing franchise pitcher Scott Kazmir to the L.A. Angels in return for a three-man package of minor leaguers. Now, it's time to go about proving they still belong in the playoff hunt.
At first glance, the Kazmir trade was a salary dump. Kazmir signed a three-year, $28.5 million extension with the Rays in May 2008, locking him down in Tampa Bay through 2011 with a club option for 2012. He's set to make $6 million now, $8 million next season, and eight figures after that. For a Rays team that began the season with a payroll of $63,313,034, the franchise's highest in nine years, that's not cheap.
But despite their desperate move to dump cash off the books, the Rays might still be contenders. Kazmir was having an off year in Tampa Bay, anyway — with his 5.92 ERA and 1.54 WHIP with the Rays this season, the team was ready to bail on him. The Rays are trying to win right now, and this season, the stars of that pitching staff are James Shields and Matt Garza.
This is a Tampa Bay team built around one of the top four offenses in baseball, and with or without Scott Kazmir, they'll stay that way.
The immediate result of the Kazmir trade wasn't good for Tampa Bay. The Rays, who entered this week 42-21 at home, managed to lose two games out of three to the visiting Red Sox, who came in 31-33 on the road. They took an ugly 8-4 loss on Tuesday, when Andy Sonnanstine took what would have been Kazmir's turn in the rotation.
Not a good start to the post-Kazmir Rays' season. But this team has the power bats to work through this funk.
And in addition, they picked up a nice package in return for Kazmir. The star of the deal is Matthew Sweeney, a 21-year-old former high school baseball standout from Maryland. Sweeney put up an .850 OPS in the Angels' system, and he plays a mean third base, too. Now the only question is what the Rays do with Sweeney and Evan Longoria when the two young stars collide at the hot corner in the major leagues.
The Rays are simultaneously building for the future while keeping a solid nucleus for the present. Kazmir is gone, but Shields, Garza, Jeff Niemann and David Price will keep the ship afloat. Don't confuse a battle flag for a surrender flag — this Rays team is still very much alive.
As for the Angels, they've picked up a valuable arm in their quest not only for a fifth division title in six years, but also for a run deep into October. Every live arm helps in the postseason, and experience is a nice added bonus.
It might be a little early to tell, but this appears to be a win-win trade for the two sides.
Now, if one of those two sides ends up meeting the Red Sox in October, we'll know for sure. Time will tell.
