The Mets added two starters to their rotation a day before the deadline. In one trade, New York dealt Scott Kazmir and Joselo Diaz to the Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato. The other deal involved the Mets sending Ty Wigginton and Matt Peterson to the Pirates as well as Justin Huber to the Royals while Kansas City forwarded Jose Bautista to Pittsburgh who then relinquished Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger to New York.

Zambrano was available because he will be eligible for arbitration this winter and the Devil Rays don't feel the team is quite ready to make the playoff run that would justify spending money on him. The 28-year-old's dominance and Tampa's defense have allowed him to pitch effectively despite a high walk rate. Between the downgrade in defensive support and the move from Tropicana Field to Shea Stadium, Zambrano may run into trouble with the Mets due to an excess of baserunners.

The Devil Rays signed Fortunato as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1996. He spent two seasons as an outfielder before moving to the mound with their Dominican Summer League team. At the time of the trade, he had compiled a 54:21 K:BB with 28 H and 4 HR allowed in 44.2 IP over 34 appearances at AAA Durham in the International League. For a week spanning the end of June and beginning of July when Tampa Bay wanted an extra long reliever for a couple of series, the 29-year-old joined the Devil Rays in the majors and proved effective during his brief stay. I expect the Mets to add him to their pen for extra depth once rosters expand in September. If he receives an opportunity to prove himself and pitches well, he could earn a spot in New York's pen next spring.

The Mets drafted Kazmir out of high school with the 15th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 draft. He spent the remainder of that season at Brooklyn in the Short-Season New York-Pennsylvania League and then split last year between A Capital City in the South Atlantic League and A+ St. Lucie in the Florida State League. He returned to St. Lucie to open the 2004 season and despite being slowed by a strained abdominal muscle advanced to the Mets' AA Eastern League affiliate at Binghamton in early July. While Kazmir's experienced a little trouble with his control as he progresses through the minors, the 20-year-old is a top pitching prospect and should be prepared to join Tampa Bay's major league rotation by September of 2005. Considering the Devil Rays history of promoting pitchers quickly, he may be up much sooner, though at the moment he's pitching for Tampa's AA Southern League affiliate at Montgomery.

New York acquired Diaz from the Dodgers in July of 2003 as a part of the Jeromy Burnitz trade. The former catcher turned pitcher continues to struggle with his control. At the time of the trade, the 24-year-old had compiled a 90:70 K:BB with 59 H and 3 HR allowed in 83.1 IP at over 19 starts in 21 appearances AA Binghamton. However, Tampa Bay seems likely to maintain a strong defense over the next few seasons, so the Devil Rays may be able to utilize another starter with questionable control, as they did with Zambrano.

Evidently, the club's ability to acquire both Zambrano and Benson took GM Jim Duquette by surprise, as the team only planned to add one starter, which leaves me even more inclined to chastise him. The Mets were six games back of the division title and eight games behind for the Wild Card, which likely will require a better record than winning the NL East. While the Braves, Marlins, and Phillies all possess weaknesses that leave an opening for New York to make a run for the post-season, New York's chances do not merit substantially mortgaging the future of the franchise. Considering Zambrano's ambiguous upside there was no excuse for completing this deal, which likely won't significantly help the Mets this year and hurts the team in upcoming seasons.