I slept on it, and when I woke up it left a bad taste in my mouth. Yesterday when I heard that the Rays had traded away Scott Kazmir I was not happy. My thoughts immediately went to the offseason trade of Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for Matt Joyce. So now between Jackson and Kazmir we have traded away two under 25 year old starting pitchers that accounted for 26 wins in 2008. What have we received in return? A Triple-A lefty hitting outfielder batting .274 with 15 HRs, a class A advanced lefty hitting third baseman batting .296 with 9 HR, a double A pitcher who is 13-4 with a 2.75 era, and the dreaded player to be named later.
The Joyce trade made no sense to me. Yes the Rays needed an outfielder when they traded for Joyce. The only problem is.... they still need an outfielder. Joyce did not play well when he started the season in the bigs. He also does not provide a right hand power bat which the Rays certainly could use, see Pat Burrell. He is an average defensive outfielder at best with little speed. Giving up Edwin Jackson, a 14 game winner, did not make much sense.
The Kazmir trade makes a little more sense to me. Dollars and Cents.......
I actually like Torres as a prospect, he is almost a mirror image of Kaz. He has 149 K's in just over 147 innings pitched. He is a lefty and is only 22 years old. He also is not owed 20 million + over the next three years. Matt Sweeney however better not unpack his bags, because I do not see any reason for the Rays to keep this guy. Longoria is the face of the Rays, and at only 24 years old most likely will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
Overall, I think the Jackson deal was done to improve the team, and it just didn't work out. The Kaz deal was made to save money!!! It looks to me like the Rays have decided to pack in this season and start trying to figure out how they are going to make payroll next year. Hopefully Torres will become a quality major league starter, and the Rays will get something in return for Sweeney and the dreaded PTBNL......
Are the Rays headed in the right direction? Will this be another Young for Garza and Bartlett move, or could it be another Jackson for Joyce? Only time will tell. Like Cubs fans always say, "There is always next year!"
The Card Addict
