Tampa Bay Rays Wave The White Flag In Scott Kazmir Deal

The Tampa Bay Rays—smack dab in the middle of a playoff chase—decided to trade away one of their most consistent pitchers over the last month to another contender, essentially waving the white flag on the 2009 season.

Oh, Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman are saying the right things.

"By no means do I think we are out of the race because of this particular move. Not at all." Maddon told the St. Petersburg Times.

Right, Joe. Sure.

While Andrew Friedman says the "player to be named later" should be a significant addition to the big club, let's make no mistake: This move is not about 2009. It's about All-Star LF Carl Crawford's $10 million option in 2010. It's about Jason Bartlett's arbitration this off season. It's about Carlos Pena and James Shields' bump in salary.

This was about keeping the core of the team together.

Let's not make this out to be more than what it is: Kazmir was an up-and-coming superstar as the Rays were building. As he flamed his fastball and unhittable slider through the American League, other teams and General Managers began to point at the New York Mets (the team who traded away Kazmir for Victor Zambrano) and snicker.

Then, right before the Rays' improbable run to the World Series, Kazmir injured elbow on his throwing arm. At the time, it was deemed not serious—but Kazmir wasn't the same guy when he came back off the DL.

Only in his most recent starts did Kazmir finally exhibit some of control and speed that had the Rays ready to hand him over $22 million. Still, in the last two years, Kaz is a .500 pitcher who couldn't get past the fifth inning in most of his contests. He was over five with his ERA, and his strikeouts-to-walks ratio was entirely too high.

As one Tampa Bay columnist said, Kazmir was the ace who never became an ace.

The Rays received two promising prospects in return, and that mysterious player to be named later. If his name isn't Brian Fuentes or Vladimir Guerrero, I don't know how much of an impact he can truly be for the big club.

No. In the end, this move was about tomorrow, and it signals the end of the run for today. Sure, a youngster like Wade Davis or a vet like Andy Sonnanstine may be able to keep Tampa Bay in it down to the wire, but who would you rather have on the hill against Boston: Davis or Sonnanstine, or Kazmir?

The tragic part in all this was the fact that Kazmir found out through the media thanks to a leak with the Angels front office which infuriated the Rays management and nearly killed the deal. You never want your player to learn he was traded through the media. It just looks really bad.

Don't be surprised if this isn't the end of dealing for Tampa Bay, as they look for ways to lower the payroll next season. Pat Burrell and BJ Upton, make sure your agent has your number.