Sage move.

I don't think he would have made much more in arbitration, and if he blows out his elbow...

Great deal. If he blows out his arm, it's not a crippling amount of money. And if he stays healthy, they will be severely under-paying one of the best pitchers in the game. If they manage to lock up Upton, they have a chance to be a nasty team for a long time.

Yes.

I don't think he would have made much more in arbitration

Well, now, I don't know about that. Note, this buys out 1 FA year with an option on the 2nd. Before 2006, Lackey got 3/$16.5 with a $9 M option (that was 3 arb years and option on first FA year). Before 2005, Sabathia got bought out for the same years at $20 M (plus a 4th year at $9 M) with lots of possible bonuses. Those 4 years of Peavy are gonna cost $34 M. Those 4 years of Beckett cost about $32 M. Not sure who else to comp him to other than to remind everybody how great the Webb and Haren contracts are.

OK, so I guess it is a little high compared to other buyouts (and given Kazmir's fragility to date), but his arb awards over the next couple years definitely had the risk of totalling something around $18 M.

Two years of FA for him could potentially cost $20mm/yr. This seems like a great deal to me.

Kazmir isn't very bright. He could have waited to become a free agent and signed with the Yankees. But $28.5 million is a little bit more money than I will making in the next three years.

It's about a right payoff for the risk. Big risk of arm blowing out, huge potential savings. The organization looks to be in pretty good shape.

He could get himself traded if he wanted to, too, since if he's healthy it's a very reasonable contract.

I didn't see at first that they bought out a year of FA. Good deal.

And an option for another FA year, so they have him if he's still healthy, and don't have to pay him if he's not.

The 24-year-old ... is Tampa Bay’s career leader in wins, strikeouts, starts and innings pitched.

I know this franchise is only 10 years old, but damn, that's something. Nice signing by the Rays. Probably also a nice move by Kazmir for the security.

Indeed, Kiko.

On the other hand, it's sad to see Ryan Rupe and Bryan Rekar losing their place in the record books. Or Rolando Arrojo, or Mark Hendrickson, or State College Spikes pitching coach Wilson Alvarez, or whoever was at the top of those lists.

Upon further inspection, Kazmir's 36th win recently put him in the all-time lead, one win ahead of...Victor Zambrano.

Zambrano, however, will always hold the record for wins with the DEVIL Rays.

He could have waited to become a free agent and signed with the Yankees.

Who in god's name would want to sign with the Yankees these days? They're a franchise on the downswing.

Upon further inspection, Kazmir's 36th win recently put him in the all-time lead, one win ahead of...Victor Zambrano.

Zambrano, however, will always hold the record for wins with the DEVIL Rays.

Shouldn't we actually credit Kazmir's wins to Zambrano anyway?

Kazmir isn't very bright. He could have waited to become a free agent and signed with the Yankees.

Except he didn't want to become a free agent and leave, he wanted to stay here.

Jim,

Congrats on your team's success this year. They look for real to me.

Also, I read somewhere that this April was the first winning month in Tampa Bay's history.

Is that true?

If so, then the Devil Rays were...0-60, as far as months go, in their ten-year history? Whereas the Rays are 1-0. Nice choice of a year to change the team's image.

Didn't they have an amazing month a few years back? Something like 22-5 or something? Maybe I'm just crazy, but that stat can't be true. Can it?

It wasn't their first winning month ever, just their first winning month of April.

Oh, well that's totally different. Not nearly as bizarre.

Still, they were 0-10 for Aprils as the Devil Rays.

Thanks Darren. They are certainly real as a winning team, we'll see how real they are as a playoff contender as the season goes on. The Sox are still winning the division and the Yanks might very well make something of their season like they have the past few years after slow starts but even I, who have steadily maintained the opinion that they aren't a playoff team, can't help but believe a little bit with the way things have gone.

Didn't they have an amazing month a few years back? Something like 22-5 or something?

Something like that, not sure of the exact record. That was in 2004 when they had a 40 game stretch midseason of playing .750 ball. Of course, that only got them to one game above .500....

Honestly, I don't think I can get past their changing the name because of religious fundamentalists. If I'd been a fan, I might have stopped being one.

For the last few years I've though the Rays were poised for a breakout, but now that it's happened I haven't been able to follow them much (current personal circs). Can someone give me a 2 paragraph skinny on the whys/wherefores of their early success?

And for that matter, same for Marlins? It's been a busy & harried spring for me.....

Well, Kazmir was hurt, and the team hasn't been hitting especially well (except for Navarro and to a lesser extent Hinske). In a nutshell, they've gotten great pitching from Jackson, Shields and Garza, with ~5 ERAs from the back of the rotation, while the bullpen under Howell, Wheeler and Perceval has just been lights out.

Also, since they got Bartlett, the defense has been solid to spectacular. If Pena and Upton start heating up... watch out.

Good starting pitching, non-disaster bullpen, and decent hitting from young players with improved defense.

Something like that, not sure of the exact record. That was in 2004 when they had a 40 game stretch midseason of playing .750 ball. Of course, that only got them to one game above .500.

Per B-R.com, on the morning of 5/20/04, the D-Rays were 10-28, having lost 12 of their 13 games. They then went 30-10 tear (a .750 clip; they were 23-6 for the first 29 games of that stretch) to get to 40-38 on the morning of 7/4.

This was immediately followed by a 19-42 stretch before they finished up by playing .500 ball over the last three weeks to end up at 70-91, thereby establishing a franchise record wins that stands to this day.

On the other hand, it's sad to see Ryan Rupe and Bryan Rekar losing their place in the record books. Or Rolando Arrojo, or Mark Hendrickson, or State College Spikes pitching coach Wilson Alvarez, or whoever was at the top of those lists.

I was at the Mets game last night and they flashed the franchise's all-time leaders in the basic hitting categories on the scoreboard. The all-time Mets' hits leader? Ed Freaking Kranepool. In 47 years, nobody has yet surpassed Steady Eddie. Madness.

"He could have waited to become a free agent and signed with the Yankees."

Sometimes, you're willing to take a little less to play for a winner.

Heh, Kazmir leads the Rays in literally every career rate stat, because he's the only one to qualify.

Yes, and Jerry Koosman is still in the top 3, at least, in most pitching categories. It helps to spend 14 years with the team. Or 18 seasons, in Kranepool's case.

Per B-R.com, on the morning of 5/20/04, the D-Rays were 10-28, having lost 12 of their 13 games. They then went 30-10 tear (a .750 clip; they were 23-6 for the first 29 games of that stretch) to get to 40-38 on the morning of 7/4.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe they established some kind of record for fewest games needed to get back over .500 after being more than 15 games below (or maybe they were the first team to do it). Though I'd be hard pressed to tell you what record they broke, since it's not something anybody ever thought about until it happened.

Another great move by the Rays, taking on some risk but getting up to two years of free agency. What is their next move? Upton?