Welcome to the Blue, Scott Kazmir!

Finally!  A deal that gets done.

The Dodgers announced today that they have just (officially) signed 31-year old free agent left-handed pitcher Scott Kazmir.  So we won't have a cancelled deal here.  It is a three-year contract, at $48 million and according to Jon Heyman on twitter he has an opt-out agreement after year one. 

This signing gives the Dodgers a very heavy left-handed starting rotation (Kershaw, Anderson, Wood & Ryu).  He throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball in the low-90's, a mid-80's slider, a change in the loow 80's and an curveball.  BTW, Michael Beller at SI noted that Kazmir started to throw his curveball with more regularity last season (link here).  Also, Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest put together a nice write-up on Kazmir recently that is worth checking out here.

Per a Dodger press release:

Kazmir, 31, has a 98-90 career record with a 3.96 ERA in 272 games (271 starts) in 11 big league seasons, all in the American League, with the Rays (2004-09), Angels (2009-11), Indians (2013), Athletics (2014-15) and Astros (2015). The three-time All-Star (2006, ’08, ’14) has posted double-digit victories in seven of his 11 MLB seasons and has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning during the course of his career with 1,474 Ks in 1,553.1 innings, including a career high and AL-best 239 strikeouts in 2007 with Tampa Bay.

In 2015 with Oakland and Houston, Kazmir combined to post a 7-11 record with a 3.10 ERA in 31 starts, ranking among the AL’s best in ERA (4th), opponents’ batting average (.237, 15th) and WHIP (1.21, 15th). He produced a 43.4 groundball percentage and forced an average of 0.84 double plays per 9.0 innings, the eighth-highest mark in the AL.

In celebration of his hiring I made the above two fantasy cards of him.  On the left, the photograph was taken by Scot Tucker/SF Bay and I used the 1979 Topps Baseball card design.  On the right, the photograph was taken by Christian Petersen/Getty Images North America and I used the 1974 Topps Baseball card design.

Below are his career statistics as a player and a manager, via Baseball-Reference:

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