Scott Kazmir - TheSportsDB.com

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Name
Scott Kazmir

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Born
1984 (40 years old)

Birth Place

Houston, Texas

Position
Pitcher

Status
Free Agent

Ethnicity
White

Team Number

Height
6' 0"

Weight
185

Outfitter

Kit

Side

Agent

Wage Year

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Sport

Baseball

Team
_Free Agent Baseball

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League
_No League Baseball

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Scott Edward Kazmir (born January 24, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Kazmir was born and raised in the Houston, Texas area. As a high school pitcher, he tossed four consecutive no-hitters and averaged more than two strikeouts per inning, drawing the attention of major league scouts and prompting the New York Mets to choose him in the first round (15th overall) of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. Kazmir moved quickly through the Mets' minor league system and was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball when he was sent to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the 2004 trade deadline in a trade that has been consistently listed as one of the most lopsided deals in modern major league history.

The Devil Rays soon called Kazmir up to the major leagues, and he made his MLB debut in August 2004, when he was only 20 years old. He quickly became a mainstay in Tampa Bay's starting rotation, winning at least 10 games in each of his four complete seasons with the club at a time when the team lost at least 90 games per year. He was named to his first All Star team in 2006, led the American League with 239 strikeouts in 2007, and is still among Tampa Bay's all-time leaders in many pitching categories, including strikeouts, earned run average (ERA), wins, and games started.

Kazmir missed time due to injury in 2008 and early 2009, and the Rays dealt him to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at the 2009 trade deadline. While he pitched well for the Angels in 2009, he struggled with injuries and reduced effectiveness over the following seasons, leading to his release in June 2011. Kazmir did not pitch in the majors for the next season and a half as he sought to regain his form. He signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians before the 2013 season, won 10 games, and placed third in voting for American League Comeback Player of the Year. He signed a two-year contract with the Oakland Athletics for 2014 and continued his resurgence, playing in the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and earning a career high 15 wins. The A's dealt Kazmir to his hometown Houston Astros at the 2015 trade deadline, and he signed a three-year, $48 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season.

While he won 10 games for the Dodgers in 2016, a series of injuries kept him from pitching in the major leagues in 2017, and he did not pitch professionally at all in 2018 or 2019. He began another comeback attempt in 2020 with an independent minor league team, and he returned to the major leagues in 2021 with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he appeared in four games. Also in 2021, Kazmir was selected as a member of the United States national baseball team for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he started and won the quarterfinal game.