Jack Dickey of Deadspin.com took a look back at the famous deal that brought Scott Kazmir to the Rays for Victor Zambrano. Dickey argues that while the results of the deal were certainly lopsided in favor of the Rays, the thinking behind the trade for the Mets was not as idiotic as most people believe.
“The Mets knew that Zambrano was actually better than he looked, and that he had a high ceiling. He struck out hitters at a nice clip—seven per nine—and simply walked and hit too many. He was young enough (28), with good stuff. A worthwhile gamble…Regrettably, Zambrano just didn’t pitch very well as a Met. He got hurt. You can blame the Mets doctors and the snake-oil salesmen in Tampa…When they dealt him, the Mets knew Kazmir well, and had every reason to believe they knew Zambrano well. They had “overvalued” and “undervalued” exactly right…”
This thinking makes sense on the surface, but it is also flawed. And it also explains perfectly the one shortcoming of the Tampa Bay Rays that they will never be able to overcome. That is, Read the rest of this entry »



















