Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 23, 2004
Schadenfreud

"Schadenfreud" is a German word meaning, roughly, the taking of pleasure in another's misfortune.

Tonight 20-year old former Mets' prospect Scott Kazmir makes his major league debut for the Devil Rays against the Mariners. Last year Mets' management described Kazmir as "untouchable" - I guess that meant that he just couldn't be touched, not that he couldn't be traded for a pitcher (Victor Zambrano) who already had arm problems.

I saw Kazmir pitch in AA this year - for the Binghamton Mets against the New Britain Rock Cats - and he looked good, sharp and poised. His minor league performance seems promising, but this is still a big jump for a kid this age.

Anyway, since Mets' GM Jim Duquette is already catching flak for this trade, he's got to be watching tonight's game with great interest. Although all parties involved will no doubt say the right things in public, I strongly suspect that if Kazmir gets pounded tonight then the entire Mets' brass will breath a little sigh of relief and experience a profound sense of "Schadenfreud".

Jim


Posted by Jim Storer at 08:35 PM | Trades | TrackBack (0)
Comments

It seems everyday there is another reminder of this one to give us Mets fan a good swift kick to the groin. At least the team we traded him to is the Devil Rays, which means I can root for him with a clear conscience.

Posted by: Jeff Maynes at August 23, 2004 11:17 PM

Actually the word is schadenfreude. Please be correct if you want to use pretentious words.

Posted by: andy at August 24, 2004 01:28 AM

Jim, were you in Binghamton? Are you from the area?

Posted by: Eli at August 24, 2004 12:46 PM

OMG, I seriously don't know what the hell the Mets are doing...

The way the trades went down, it seemed as if they were gearing up for the playoffs. Otherwise, why ELSE would you go get 2 guys that have been around for a few years?

But having experienced Zambrano first hand as a Yankees fan, I did not understand the logic of trading a blue-chipper for someone who's at BEST the 3rd or 4th starter for Tampa Bay.

The Yanks need to make more deals with the Mets. Maybe we could have gotten Kazmir for Contreras! LOL...

Posted by: Pete at August 24, 2004 02:05 PM