Tick-tock, Tick-tock... Beware The Deadline Deal

With each fastball that Scott Kazmir throws, a metropolis groans. With each slider that plummets through the strike zone like a tiny jet whose engines have failed, thousands of fans a thousand miles north bemoan their fate. Sometimes they must unburden themselves to the 22-year-old Kazmir, an All-Star lefthander for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. So New Yorkers e-mail him to say they regret that he was traded from the Mets' farm system, to divulge they now root for the Rays and, sometimes, to share their pain. "My wife could see TEARS in my eyes," wrote one fan of the deal. � Kazmir reads the missives forwarded by his mom, Debbie, who handles much of his correspondence, and he smiles ... but not too broadly. He understands why the Mets sent him to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano on July 30, 2004, the day before the trading deadline. "It was just part of the game," says Kazmir, New York's first-round pick in 2002, who was then in Double A ball. "They needed somebody in the majors right now, a fifth starter or whatever, and I wasn't ready yet."

He is, of course, being diplomatic. Kazmir and everyone who wasn't employed by the Mets (as well as many who were) knew then that the trade could turn out to be lopsided. "Someday," said Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, "that might be the worst [deal ever]." Beckett's comment came on July 3, after Kazmir had thrown a complete game, two-hit shutout against Boston. At week's end Kazmir had a 10--7 record for a last-place team and a 3.36 ERA (seventh in the American League) with 139 strikeouts (second). The 30-year-old Zambrano? He has won 10 games since the trade while losing 14 with a 4.43 ERA--and he's out the rest of this year with a torn elbow tendon.

Kazmir is a fuzzy-cheeked cautionary tale for those G.M.'s who, desperate for an immediate playoff payoff, might be tempted to trade a prospect such as pitcher Philip Hughes ( New York Yankees) or pitcher Humberto Sanchez ( Detroit Tigers) second baseman Howie Kendrick ( Los Angeles Angels) for an established veteran before the 4 p.m. July 31 deadline. Such short-term thinking has frequently had dire long-term consequences (page 44). It can also present a golden opportunity for a team that has a marginally desirable player--like, say, Zambrano--to swap. "In the next phase of great big league pitchers, [Kazmir] is going to be on top," says Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "[He'll be] the first name everyone mentions."

It's hard to feel sorry for the Mets, who through Sunday had a 12 1/2-game lead in the National League East. Besides, Kazmir would be one of many stars at Shea; in Tampa he is not a star so much as a savior. Consider the scene during a Kazmir start against the Yankees on July 8: Nearly 35,000 fans filled the awkward bubble that is Tropicana Field, which is crisscrossed by catwalks and lit by an eerie electric sun--the giant, neon Tropicana orange that rises above rightfield. There were plenty of Yankees fans, but a large chunk of the crowd had come out for Kazmir; average attendance has spiked 22% during his starts this season. Number 26 jerseys dotted the stadium, and down the first base line eight shirtless men sucked in their guts to better display the k-a-z-m-i-r 2-6 spelled out upon them. (The Kazmir Krazies, as they call themselves, surfaced at Kazmir's first home start this year; he now pays for their tickets.)

This type of enthusiasm is new to Tampa. In their nine seasons the D-Rays have neither won more than 70 games nor given the city much reason to think they ever will. Last October a new ownership group headed by former Goldman Sachs exec Stuart Sternberg took over, intent on wooing fans. The result: free parking, cheaper tickets, $1-dollar hot dog nights, $10 million in ballpark improvements, contract extensions for cornerstone outfielders Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli, and a new, relentlessly positive manager, Joe Maddon. The batting order is young and well-stocked. The pitching is, well, not so good (excluding Kazmir, Tampa Bay had a 5.34 ERA at week's end), but every fifth day it's formidable. "The kid is special," Yankees manager Joe Torre says. "It's scary how much he's improving."

As a rookie last season Kazmir was 10--9 with a 3.77 ERA, but he was wild (100 walks in 186 innings) and relied too much on his fastball. No longer. In training camp new pitching coach Mike Butcher worked with Kazmir on two elements of his delivery: his windup and his release point. Rather than keeping his hands locked chest-high during his windup, Kazmir learned to bring them up, down and back up, giving him a consistent rhythm. To better disguise his pitches, he performed drills in front of a mirror, making sure that his release point was the same for his 94-mph fastball--he can throw 97 but has better control at 94--his 85-mph slider and his 84-mph changeup. "Last year I'd rush into everything with my changeup and my breaking ball and slow it down on my fastball," Kazmir says. "Hitters picked up on that."

Kazmir has also improved his control, especially on his slider, which he throws from the same arm slot and with the same arm speed as his four-seam fastball. A conventional slider is thrown off the middle finger, but Kazmir uses his index finger, so the ball has more tilt. This season Kazmir has been able to spot it better; he has only 46 walks in 128 2/3 innings. "Before, he threw everything to his glove side," says Butcher. "So everything went in to a righty and out to a lefty. Now he can throw the fastball away, the slider down and out. He's opened up a whole new part of the plate."

His changeup has also become a formidable weapon. Last year Kazmir dreaded using it, which is not surprising considering he'd never thrown a change until he got to the majors. "I don't think I'd even gripped one," he says. Now, he explains, "instead of babying it, I feel like I can really throw it."

Having good stuff is one thing; knowing how to use it is another. Most young power pitchers have three favorite pitches--all of them fastballs. Kazmir blends strategy with blunt force. In the fourth inning against the Yankees, for example, he set up Alex Rodriguez with a fastball inside so he could then throw two sliders to the same location. A-Rod swung a good foot above the second slider for the first of his two strikeouts that night. "He's got probably the best head I've seen on a pitcher that young," says Devil Rays catcher Josh Paul, an eight-year veteran. "He almost thinks like a catcher. He gets guys looking in one spot, goes to a different spot, then comes back to where they are looking, but at a different speed."

There is no more acute student of Kazmir than Paul, who is writing a book (tentative title: The Tools of Intelligence) about the science of working with a pitcher. After the gem against Boston, Paul sat down with a tape recorder and reviewed the game, pitch by pitch, with Kazmir. "We go over strategy," says Paul. "If we get a guy out with a pitch, the next at bat we try to work off that pitch, knowing he thinks it's coming." It's a collaborative effort during games; Kazmir shakes off Paul often. As Paul puts it, "That Crash Davis stuff doesn't work. Plus, Scott doesn't see the game like a 22-year-old."