Astros acquire Scott Kazmir

[Corsi]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal  1m1 minute ago
Sources: #Astros get Kazmir.

 

[rembrat]

What's the haul?

 

[Corsi]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS  37s37 seconds agoNew York, USA
kazmir goes to astros for mengdon and nottingham, a's announce

 

[Corsi]

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan  1m1 minute ago
A's get Daniel Mengden -- a breakout guy from the 2014 draft -- and catcher Jacob Nottingham, who's tearing up the Cal League this year.

 

[nattysez]

That feels about right -- two high-A prospects for a rental.  
 
Edit:  I hope he stays healthy -- I'd love to see the Astros make the playoffs.

 

[the1andonly3003]

?I was reading that Astros only wanted to trade for rentals.  Why give up decent prospects for just a rental?

 

[MakMan44]

Good move for both sides. Hope it pans out. 

 

[mt8thsw9th]

?I was reading that Astros only wanted to trade for rentals.  Why give up decent prospects for just a rental?

 
Because that's how you acquire players.

 

[Hee Sox Choi]

From BaseballAmerica:
 
2. Jacob Nottingham, c, Astros
Low Class A Quad Cities (Midwest)
A physical righthanded batter and 2013 sixth-round pick, Nottingham stood out at Redlands (Calif.) High for his power potential, though he gave no indication of that potential during his first two pro summers. His fortune changed quickly in 2015, however, when he led the Midwest League with a .542 slugging percentage at the time the Astros promoted him to high Class A Lancaster on June 30. (He has 11 extra-base hits through 17 games in the California League.) Having caught a career-high 55 games this season, Nottingham also has convinced some scouts he can remain at the position.
AB SO XBH 2B 3B HR ISO lgISO HRtile 230 20% 29 18 1 10 .217 .105 29%
 
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/baseballist-nine-middle-diamond-players-will-deliver-power/

 

[Hee Sox Choi]

?I was reading that Astros only wanted to trade for rentals.  Why give up decent prospects for just a rental?

They're in the low minors.  The chances of one of them panning out into an MLB star is slim.  
 
Good trade for both sides.   

 

[E5 Yaz]

Keep in mind that Kazmir was born in Houston. While this is a rental, it is possible he will like playing for a team close to his home

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

?I was reading that Astros only wanted to trade for rentals.  Why give up decent prospects for just a rental?

 
For a franchise that seemingly has a low budget and wants to pride itself as being what Theo Epstein once coined as a player development machine, giving up a few low-A prospects for rental players to put the team over the hump in a good year is financially prudent.  Even if the player has a high salary, you're only paying a pro-rated portion of it, so it beats making multi-year commitments to high priced players that could break down and become dead weight on the payroll.  And theoretically, it should wash out if the team makes the post-season and draws the additional revenue that comes with doing so.  Every postseason game they gain is profit for the franchise since there are no additional player salary costs to account for.

 

[snowmanny]

Keep in mind that Kazmir was born in Houston. While this is a rental, it is possible he will like playing for a team close to his home

So you forced me to read his Wikipedia page where I learned that while Kazmir was the fifteenth pick of the 2002 pick, the fifth pick of the draft was another pitcher on Kazmir's Cypress Falls (TX) H.S. team named Clint Everts who apparently was taken by the Expos and never heard of again.  I'm guessing that high school team was pretty good since Kazmir had an ERA of 0.37 as a senior and at one point gave up one hit in six games but some other guy actually seemed better.

 

[Pilgrim]

So you forced me to read his Wikipedia page where I learned that while Kazmir was the fifteenth pick of the 2002 pick, the fifth pick of the draft was another pitcher on Kazmir's Cypress Falls (TX) H.S. team named Clint Everts who apparently was taken by the Expos and never heard of again.  I'm guessing that high school team was pretty good since Kazmir had an ERA of 0.37 as a senior and at one point gave up one hit in six games but some other guy actually seemed better.

There's an entire chapter about that draft in Moneyball where Michael Lewis shits on the idea of taking Kazmir and Prince Fielder.

 

[Rough Carrigan]

There's an entire chapter about that draft in Moneyball where Michael Lewis shits on the idea of taking Kazmir and Prince Fielder.

In retrospect, doesn't it look like Lewis just bought whatever Beane was selling and Beane was dutifully trying to justify the A's going cheap on that year's draft instead of trying to stock the team's farm system with all the picks they had?

 

[mauf]

In retrospect, doesn't it look like Lewis just bought whatever Beane was selling and Beane was dutifully trying to justify the A's going cheap on that year's draft instead of trying to stock the team's farm system with all the picks they had?

 
Said a little differently, it looks like a failure of leadership by Beane -- he needed to convince his owner to seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity and budget slot money for all those picks. The one guy they spent on was Nick Swisher, and he turned out nicely; the others did better than you'd expect for a batch of 3rd-4th round talents (which is what they were), but not well compared to what you'd hope to get from 1st/supp round picks.

 

[kenneycb]

In retrospect, doesn't it look like Lewis just bought whatever Beane was selling and Beane was dutifully trying to justify the A's going cheap on that year's draft instead of trying to stock the team's farm system with all the picks they had?

I feel like you could say that about a lot of Michael Lewis books.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

In retrospect, doesn't it look like Lewis just bought whatever Beane was selling and Beane was dutifully trying to justify the A's going cheap on that year's draft instead of trying to stock the team's farm system with all the picks they had?

 
 

 
Said a little differently, it looks like a failure of leadership by Beane -- he needed to convince his owner to seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity and budget slot money for all those picks. The one guy they spent on was Nick Swisher, and he turned out nicely; the others did better than you'd expect for a batch of 3rd-4th round talents (which is what they were), but not well compared to what you'd hope to get from 1st/supp round picks.

 
Kazmir was selected one spot ahead of the A's first pick that year, so not picking him really needed no justification at all.  As I recall any "shitting" on him in the book was based on the belief that high school pitchers were a more volatile and risky commodity due to the lack of hard data and an over-reliance on scouting, and that Beane favored college players who had a better and more accessible track record (and typically were more advanced and thus progressed faster through the minors).  Beane arguably passed on high schooler Cole Hamels (taken one spot after Swisher) but drafted University of Kentucky product Joe Blanton (taken one spot in front of high schooler Matt Cain) for the same reasons.

 

[jon abbey]

Kazmir has massive home/road splits, .441 OPS allowed at home and .804 on the road, so it'll be interesting to see how he does outside of OAK. This wasn't an issue in 2014, so maybe it's just SSS, but that is a major difference.