Rays malaise: How a season was lost

   The reason the Tampa Bay Rays nosedived this year was because they traded Scott Kazmir.

   After they traded the popular left-hander they went 3-15 (before recently winning four in a row {when it doesn't count anymore}).

   Now despite Kazmir's lukewarm performance with the Rays this year, taking him out of the clubhouse absolutely deflated the chemistry of the team, proving once again that the zeal of cutting costs can lead to an even greater expense.

   From the day of the trade through the next 18 games, the Rays were swept — in succession — by the Tigers, the Yankees and the Red Sox in one of the biggest collapses by a previous World Series participant.

  Fact is, younger teams are more prone to this type of upheaval than mature teams. Much like the Cleveland Indians of the late '90s, the success of the team rests upon young studs who come up together, suffer together and thus succeed together as they buy into the scheme management carefully nurtures.

   So to remove one of the key players of a team's persona — such as Kazmir — sends a team into a collective funk. Like losing a family member.

   At least that's my theory.