Most Mets fans remember where they were when they found out that pitching phenom Scott Kazmir had been dealt to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a bag of shells. It was a move cynical Mets fans hated from the start, and for good reason. Victor Zambrano was terrible with the Mets, and as my father recently pointed out, Scott Kazmir keeps getting younger. Over the next few days, I’d like to examine what I believe is a change of philosophy, across major league baseball, as a result of the Mets historic blunder.
It has been almost five years since the Mets traded Kazmir in the famously one-sided deal. During that time, a fair number of star players have been dealt for top prospects. What I’d like to investigate is whether there has been any change in what teams are willing to give up for established players that are most often approaching free agency. I won’t include the Miguel Cabrera/Willis/Maybin/Miler deal as Cabrera was 24 at the time of the deal, and therefore doesn’t fit my model of youth for experience, potential for a proven commodity. I’ll leave out trades like Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young to San Diego for Adam Eaton because while Gonzalez has developed into a marquee player, he wasn’t at the time the deal was made.
A Little Chin Music 