The rebuild is over: Astros acquire Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir
The Houston Astros have made the first big trade of the deadline. The club has acquired pitcher Scott Kazmir from the Oakland Athletics, signaling they are willing to go all in this season.
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Prior to the start of the season, it would have been laughable to think of the Astros as buyers at midseason. The team had improved in the offseason, but few thought they would contend this year.
The club has been much better than expected. Dallas Keuchel has blossomed into a legitimate ace, while the offense has been good enough to pick up some wins.
The Astros rotation has actually been fairly solid this season, ranking 10th in WAR. Most of that, however, is due to Keuchel, who should be in contention for the Cy Young award if he can keep this up. The team has also received a strong performance from Lance McCullers, but he’s a rookie, and it’s unclear how many innings he’ll throw going forward.
For that reason, Kazmir is a big get for Houston. He teams up with both Keuchel and McCullers in order to give the team a strong 1-3 punch in a possible playoff series.
Kazmir has been excellent since he returned to the league in 2013. Over the past three seasons, he’s posted a 3.44 ERA over 458 innings. He’s struck out nearly a batter per inning during that period.
Though Kazmir has been an above-average pitcher lately, he did have some issues down the stretch last season. After the trade deadline, he posted a 5.42 ERA over 13 starts. That could be due to the fact that he hadn’t thrown that many innings in a long time, or it’s possible that Kazmir can’t take a big workload anymore. Prior to his comeback he wasn’t the most durable guy.
Still, it’s a strong addition for Houston. The team was already being looked at as a legitimate contender, and the Kazmir move only strengthens that line of thinking. After going through a massive rebuild the past couple seasons, it appears Houston is ready to go for it.
If the A’s were going to sell, it made sense to part with Kazmir. He was in the final year of his contract, and would be a free-agent at the end of the season anyway. Despite a strong run differential, Oakland has stumbled out of the gate. While there was a chance they could make a second half run, it appears the team will sell off their veterans.
In return for Kazmir, the A’s will pick up Daniel Mengden, a pitcher, and Taylor Nottingham, a catcher. Nottingham is having a great season in the minors, but he’s only 20, and remains years away from the majors. Mengden is 22, and still in the low levels of the minors, so it’s going to take him a while to reach the majors as well.
In the end, both teams probably did well. Kazmir was going to leave Oakland in a few months anyway, so trading him makes sense. While the players Oakland received are still years away, it’s a worthwhile gamble on their end.
For Houston, it’s an announcement that they are contenders again. Kazmir gives them a formidable staff in a playoff series, and he didn’t come at a huge price.
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The first move of the trade deadline has been made, and it has solidified Houston as a dangerous club moving forward. Now that Houston got itself a big piece, it will be interesting to see how the other teams in the American League respond.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
