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June 16, 2011 Where Are They Now Joe Janish

Scott Kazmir Released

The moment we’ve all been waiting for since July 30, 2004 has finally arrived: Scott Kazmir is available, free and clear, after being released by the Angels.

Kazmir was going to be the lefthanded Tom Seaver until Rick Peterson thought ten minutes could fix Victor Zambrano and the Wilpons believed the Mets were still in the pennant race — despite the fact that they were in fourth place with a 49-53 record and 7 games out of first.

We know how it turned out; Zambrano was awful before going down with an elbow injury, and Kazmir went on to have a few good seasons before struggling with injuries himself (which GM Jim Duquette expected).

Now that Kazmir is out there for the taking, do you want him back in the Mets organization? He’s still only 27 years old.

Hat tip to loyal, longtime MetsToday reader / commenter “Mic” for the link.

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Nick G June 16, 2011 at 11:22 am
    It’s interesting that this happened. Clearly, Mets management was right about what he would become. But he wasn’t damaged goods then, and the Mets sold him off as if he was. Trade gets slightly more defensable, but still really bad.
    • Joe June 16, 2011 at 1:27 pm
      Agreed. If the Mets got a few good years from him, that wouldn’t have been nothing to sneer at.
      • Kyle Schnitzer June 16, 2011 at 3:23 pm
        Read Jonah Keri’s “The Extra 2%”. Insightful reading on how the Rays went from worst to first. He also talks about early Rays player development.

        In my opinion, why not give Kazmir a shot? We don’t have enough lefties in the bullpen and there isn’t much money needed to make it happen.

  2. Double Overtime June 16, 2011 at 3:45 pm
    Give him a shot. This kid had a couple great seasons in TB, you never know if he could bounce back.
  3. Mic June 16, 2011 at 4:58 pm
    Everybody remmbers that the knock was kazmir was a 5-10 pitcher with a suspect motion……similar to another former Met with whom kaz was compared….billy wagner.
    • Joe Janish June 16, 2011 at 5:38 pm
      I don’t recall that comparison but I’ll take your word for it.

      Their careers certainly went in different directions; though, I guess there is still time for Kazmir to turn into a closer and have a HOF career.

  4. Mic June 17, 2011 at 8:20 am
    Not really. As i recall, billy was a starter and became a releiver after arm issues.
    • Joe Janish June 18, 2011 at 2:36 am
      No. You’re right that Wags was originally a starter in the minors — but so was just about every reliever back in the day. His first elbow issues occurred a few years after establishing himself as a dominant closer. The reason he became a closer in the first place was because the Astros had 5 strong starters but two shaky closers (Todd Jones and Xavier Hernandez), and the 24-year-old Wagner was touching triple digits so it was a no-brainer to put him into relief. And BTW, when Wags was brought up in ’96, the Houston manager was Terry Collins.
  5. Mic June 18, 2011 at 9:45 am
    Good stuff. Im too lazy to look but what was the reason/knock on Wags early in his (phils) career?

    Anyway. I’m on the Kaz band wagon. But I think he needs arm strength back. Note He is already getting 14.5M from the Halos so he is cheap to the Mets and offsets the $$$ loss of Ollie…if they get anything back from Kaz.

    Meanwhile i advocate a Tim wakefield role for RA.