Scott Kazmir's downward spiral with the Angels ended Wednesday when the team gave him his release, opting to swallow the $14.5M they still owe him rather than return him to the active roster. "Right now it's the best thing for (Kazmir). Hopefully he can get off that treadmill and restore his career because he was really struggling trying to get the ability to compete again, and I mean get his tools where can compete again up here. He wasn't going in the right direction," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.