"The anniversary passed recently without fanfare. Without reflection.

Heck, it passed without a moment of silence in a stadium that supposedly has far too many.

We are talking about the day the Rays traded Scott Kazmir.

Or, as it will be known in the future, the day the Rays clinched a spot in the 2010 playoffs.

You remember the Kazmir trade, right? It was the day last season when the Rays exchanged their 2008 AL pennant for a white flag. A salary dump, it was called by some. A disgrace, it was suggested by others.

At the time, the Rays were 4½ games out of the wild-card race with about a month to go. Tampa Bay dealt Kazmir to the Angels for a couple of minor-leaguers and a player to be named later in a deal the Rays acknowledged was at least partially driven by economics.

And now, one year and 13 days later, that trade could mean to the 2010 Rays what the Matt Garza/Jason Bartlett trade once meant to 2008.

Let's back it up a little:

There is no doubt, Kazmir was one of the first stars this franchise ever knew. He was an attraction in a market that forever had trouble drawing crowds. He was Tampa Bay's all-time leader in wins by the time he was 23 and a two-time All-Star by 24.

Yet, by the time he was 25, Kazmir was horribly overpaid for a guy whose fastball had lost zip and whose slider had lost bite. He had been off and on the disabled list, and was struggling to make it past the fifth inning in most of his starts.

So when Kazmir put together three consecutive quality starts in the final weeks of August last season, and the Angels were in the market for another arm for their postseason run, the Rays jumped at the chance to get out from under his contract.

The trade saved Tampa Bay about $23 million in salary between 2009-11, plus the buyout of a 2012 option. The trade also bought them a good deal of ridicule, something the club accepts as an occupational hazard for a small-revenue team.

"We cannot rely upon the power of purse as many of our competitors can. That always factors into our decisions," team president Matt Silverman said this week. "All these decisions carry risks. We have respect for those risks, but we don't allow them to prevent us from making decisions.""