According to reports, the Los Angeles Angels are close to bolstering their rotation in a big way by acquiring pitcher Scott Kazmir from the Tampa Bay Rays for prospects Alexander Torres and Matthew Sweeney.
On the surface, the Angels already had one of the league’s best rotations based on talent alone.
However, injuries have been a serious problem. Kelvim Escobar, who missed all of 2008 after going 18-7 in 2007, made all of one start this season, John Lackey and Ervin Santana started the season on the DL, and Joe Saunders has just returned from a stint on the DL.
Past that, consistency and quality has also been an issue. None of the Angels’ starters have an ERA under 4.00, with 13-game winner Jered Weaver’s ERA rising above that mark thanks to allowing five runs in 5.1 innings against the Tigers on Monday night. The bullpen has also had its concerns, with only two regular relievers posting an ERA under 4.00.
The Angels are 26th in the league in ERA (4.87), 28th in batting average against (.279), 28th in homers allowed (154), 23rd in doubles allowed (243), and 25th in WHIP (1.45).
From that standpoint, Kazmir fits perfectly in the Angels’ staff. He’s spent time on the DL this season, and he has dealt with a fair share of struggles when he has been on the mound.
However, minus a bad night in Seattle a couple of weeks ago (4.1 IP, 9 hits, 7 runs), he’s pitched pretty well over the last month, so the Angels are getting him while the getting’s good. He’s 4-1 in his last six starts, and in what appears to be his last start with the Rays, he allowed one run on four hits and struck out 10 in six innings against Toronto on Wednesday.
The Angels have one of the best lineups from top to bottom that you’ll ever come across, and their array of dangerous bats is enough to win plenty of games. However, offense alone won’t win them a World Series, and that’s why the Kazmir trade was a must.
Is it a risky move? Sure. Control can be an issue with Kazmir from time to time, and he’s missed time with injuries each of the last two seasons. But besides the fact that he’s still relatively young and that the best may be yet to come from him, when he’s on, he can mow ‘em down with ease, and when you consider the aforementioned issues with the pitchers the Angels already have, it’s
So where will he fit in with the Angels? Weaver and Lackey have their places in the rotation set in stone unless they get sidelined by injury, and Santana and Saunders won’t have anything to worry about as long as they don’t completely implode, but he could replace Trevor Bell in the rotation. Bell, who’s set to go for the Angels tonight against Oakland, is an extremely promising prospect, but Mike Scioscia might prefer to have another lefty and proven starter in his rotation and look at Bell with the future more in mind than the present.
He may end up being used primarily as a reliever, but even so, he can still get the job done in that capacity, and when it comes playoff time, it’ll be in their advantage to be able to turn to him in a long series to alleviate the workload on the starters. And in case of injury, he could come into the rotation in a pinch without a drop-off in quality.
Even before this trade, the AL West was the Angels’ to lose, but if Kazmir can pick up where he left off in Tampa, he could be a key to them being more than just division champions this season.
