Scott Kazmir Double-A Montgomery (Devil Rays)?

It is painful to see Scott Kazmir Double-A Montgomery (Devil Rays) on the Prospect Hot Sheet. It is painful like walking in on your girlfriend cheating on you with the transvestite from next door.

I think BA said it quite well in their latest offering:

Memo to Mets: you just traded one the best prospects in baseball for a just over .500 pitcher with a strikeout to walk ratio of barely more than 1:1. Memo to Met fans: Don't think about this trade for too long or blood will start to come out of your ear.

I could not agree with them more. Matt Peterson I could take...Justin Huber I could take....Ty Wigginton I could take…Jose Diaz I could take...but every time I think about this one, I get so pissed off so I'll just drop it. I have said he is expendable before, but in a Zito like trade. Shit I'd take Kazmir for Zambrano, but Carlos fucking Zambrano.

BA also suggests that with Kazmir gone, Petit may be the strongest candidate for #1 prospect. He has made leaps and bounds this year and the Mets top five prospects looks really bleak until they sign Humber. It is looking dark down on the farm, but I cannot complain too much about the system. It did produce Reyes, Wright, Wiggie, Moreno, and Phillips over the past few years so the Mets are enjoying the fruits of their scouting success somewhat.

BA also had this on the deal:

After the Mets inexplicably dealt him for Zambrano while barely being on the fringes of contention, word came out of New York that Kazmir might break down and might be nothing more than a reliever. He might be Ron Guidry, too, and no lefty in the minors can match his stuff (mid-90s fastball, hard breaking ball). Between Kazmir and 2004 first-round pick Jeff Niemann (still unsigned), the Rays finally have some pitchers to build around.

I said I'd stop talking about it, but here I am. I am still talking about the Kazmir deal. For all the crap the Rays organization has taken over the years, they have something good going on. They have a big three possibility with Dewon Brazelton and above mention two prospects. On top of that, they have Upton, Young, Crawford, Baldelli, and Huff amongst others. D-Ray fans actually have a reason to cheer. I'm glad the Mets could help. This one still hurts the morning after the morning after the morning after the morning after. I can see it now, Kazmir 21 years old pitching against the Yankees in 2005 and taking them to the mat while Zambrano is handing our free passes like it is going out of style.

Finally, I will really drop it and hopefully speak to this topic for the last time. Once is enough. Rick Peterson said he can fix Zambrano in ten minutes. Now, I have no idea who the Devil Ray pitching coach is, but apparently he is really dumb and bad at this job. Kazmir may still be a prospect and question marks, but Zambrano is 29 and has plenty of his own. The Mets may be the first team in history to trade this highly touted of a prospect on a guy with mediocre career numbers and hunch that this guy has some flaw that only Ricky P. can solve. I can safely say that no other GM makes this deal. Look, the guy is leaving the AL East which has a few teams that knock the ball around and is coming the NL into a pitchers park. Just by the law of averages the guy is going to put up better numbers. Shit, he may even be able to post sub 4.00 ERA without anyone even changing anything. AL East lineups have better 1-8 lineups than just about every team in the NL and then you throw in the pitcher's spot in order and you got better numbers for Victor. Taking Zambrano out of that environment is going to help him more than Peterson will.

Would you dump your young, hot girlfriend for an older woman who is about to get plastic surgery and MAY be hotter when she is done? Shit no.

Kazmir in 2005 will make some noise.

Doug Davis looked like Cy Young out there for the first six innings last night. The Mets offense has a penchant for making bad pitchers look exceptionally well. Then I hear Ted Robinson comment that Davis has stuff working tonight. Does he really have his stuff? Or is it that the Mets cannot hit the side of barn. They are very very streaky. Also, Ted brought up the fact that the Mets are leading the majors with pitchers per game. That is not exactly and enviable tidbit.

After Dougie shut them down for a bit, the Mets managed to pull it out thanks to some timely bad Brewer defense. One step at a time I say. First catch the Marlins, then catch the Phillies, and then we'll see about the Braves. For some reason, I just cannot give up.

I was talking to my friend last night about the Mets. He said that if he had to choose an MVP for year to date, he would have to choose Mike Cameron. At this point, I'd have to agree with him. The positive impact he has on the team's ERA and the hits he takes away compiled with leading the team in homeruns and being a great clubhouse character makes him the top candidate in my book too. He is gold glove candidate that is about to shatter his personal single season home run mark. His previous high was 25 and he is on pace for 35. Aside from one atrocious month of May, which was partially due to injury, he has done exactly what the Mets signed him for and expected to do. In some areas he even exceeded expectations.

Reyes starting at short stop last night? Will wonders never cease? I think Duquette is trying to do some damage control and appease the fans by doing something they have been loudly clamoring for.

What do the Mets need bad? Really bad? I'd say a young left hander in the bullpen who can hit 92/93 mph on the gun. I'm thinking someone that can hold lefties to a .180 BAA and could hold all batters to a .226 BAA. A reliever that you would have for a few years that would only cost the league minimum. Oh, that is right, they had him. He was moved to clear room on the 40 man roster for some cagy veteran presence.

Has anyone noticed that Paul Konerko has 28 homeruns and is on pace for 44 homeruns this year? The White Sox were trying to pawn off his $8,000,000 contract this year to anyone who would take him. I think they are glad they held onto him.

One amazing feat that happened this year was Ivan Rodriguez hitting .500 for the month of June. His OBP was .542 and his OPS was 1.274. Not too shabby.

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Now let's see what Victor can do tonight. Hopefully he'll shut everyone up and prove us wrong.