LA Dodgers sign lefty Scott Kazmir to 3-year deal

Scott Kazmir is a Los Angeles Dodger, agreeing to a 3 year, $48 million deal, per reports on Twitter, with an opt-out after the 2016 season.

Kazmir also serves as the rotation replacement for Hisashi Iwakuma, whom the Dodgers signed to a three-year, $45 million pact only to see him head back to the Seattle Mariners after a failed physical interrupted the process.

He’ll join a rotation featuring – at least for now – perennial Cy Young contender Clayton Kershaw and fellow southpaws Brett Anderson, Hyun-jin Ryu and Alex Wood.

The question with Kazmir at this point is durability as much as anything else…he had a 2.38 ERA in 109.2 IP for Oakland a year ago before he was traded to the Astros, where he had a 4.17 ERA in 73.1 IP over the final couple of months. Because he was not eligible to receive a qualifying offer, signing Kazmir won’t cost the Dodgers a 2016 draft pick. During his 11 year career, Kazmir has a 3.96 ERA and 1.347 WHIP in 1,553 innings. After recovering from injuries and playing independent ball, he returned to the Indians in 2013.

But once Kazmir moved to a new locale, his numbers took a turn for the worse. That version of Kazmir had a big mid-90s fastball and one of the best sliders you’ll ever see.

“I mean personally, me, very disappointed”, Kazmir said of his half-season with the Astros on September 29, per the Houston Chronicle’s Evan Drellich. His comeback is rather remarkable.