Dodgers Sign Scott Kazmir

The Dodgers added another lefty to their rotation, signing another solid pitcher.

It’s Sandy Koufax‘s birthday. Koufax, of course, is widely considered one of the best pitcher of all time and is arguably the greatest left-handed pitcher ever. It’s only fitting that on his 80th birthday, the Dodgers completed their potentially all-lefty rotation by signing Scott Kazmir.

Kazmir, as you may or may not recall, was part of my “dream offseason post”. Here is the slide where I proposed signing him (ignore everything else that I was completely wrong about).

Called that contract. That makes up for me being completely off on Zack Greinke‘s destination or contract. Part two of that Dodgers tweet was that Daniel Fields was DFA’d.

Kazmir gives the Dodgers a possibility of opening the season with five lefties. Depending on the health of Hyun-jin Ryu, Kazmir could slide comfortably into the third slot in the rotation, behind Clayton Kershaw and Ryu, ahead of Alex Wood and Brett Anderson. They’re all left-handed, which some view as more of a problem than others. Left-handed pitchers are great against left-handed hitters, but the though is that it’s a bad matchup against right handed hitters, who can see the ball better out of a lefties hand. Which for the most part is true.

Oct 9, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir (26) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals in game two of the ALDS at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw can get anyone out whenever, so I doubt any of the concern is towards him. Ryu and Anderson have reverse splits during their career, faring better against left-handed hitters than they do righties. Wood is more traditional, faring better against lefties than righties. Kazmir’s splits are almost non-existent. Against righties, Kazmir has allowed a .250/.332/.412 slash throughout his career. Against lefties, .241/.299/.357. Slightly better against lefties, but not to where it can/will be an issue. (H/T to Dodgers Digest for this)

Kazmir has had an up-and-down career and was once Andrew Friedman’s ace in Tampa. He went to the Angels, where he was atrocious and out of baseball for most of the 2011 season and all of 2012. He returned to Cleveland in 2013 and pitched decently (pretty well for a guy that was out of baseball for two years), but turned his career around in one and a half seasons in Oakland. He was an all-star in 2014 and posted an insane 2.38 ERA in 18 starts in 2015 before being traded to Houston. He didn’t fare very well as an Astro, but still finished the season with a respectable 3.10 ERA.

I’ve always thought of Kazmir as an injury risk, but that’s sort of untrue. He’s started at least 20 games in nine of his 11 seasons, with the only two under 20 coming in his rookie year and in 2011, when he made one start. He’s made 30 or more starts four times, and aside from his time with the Angels he’s always been pretty consistent.

Kazmir being traded last season means he does not cost the Dodgers their first round draft pick, which Hisashi Iwakuma did before his signing fell through. CBS’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post disagree on the terms of the contract.

I choose to believe Heyman, because I got a headache trying to decipher Sherman’s tweet. Way too much math.

The key point is the opt out after this season. This makes sense for both sides. The pitching free agent market is weak, and solid starters like Kazmir might be a hot commodity next offseason. If Kazmir pitches well, he can trigger the opt-out and seek more money elsewhere. This won’t kill the Dodgers, who could have two top pitching prospects ready to go next season. If Kazmir doesn’t pitch super well, he’ll make a cool $32 million and probably replace Anderson at the back-end of the rotation.

This is a quietly good signing by the Dodgers, who add another good pitcher (and one that hasn’t been broken recently) to a rotation full of good pitchers with question marks on their arms. The financials check out, Kazmir checks out, and the rotation looks better today than it did yesterday. Still, bring me Kenta Maeda and a reliever, maybe one Howie Kendrick, and let’s get to Spring Training already.