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According to a recent report in the Chicago Sun-Times, the White Sox intend to trade RHP Javier Vazquez this off-season in exchange for a second or third baseman.
In today’s Chicago Tribune, Dave van Dyck writes, ‘The Mets had interest in Javier Vazquez,’ according to a well-placed source at the GM meetings.
…wait, had…or have…there is a significant difference…
According to van Dyck, “The source did not know what the Mets were offering in return, but it might not be much if they would take the entire $23 million owed to the right-hander for the next two seasons. The Mets are looking for at least one starting pitcher and maybe two.”
However, according to Joel Sherman in the New York Post, while the Mets have interest in Vazquez, according to ‘a club official, it could be a ‘pipe dream’ that ‘everything falls into place,’ ‘allowing a deal to occur.’
That said, Sherman suggests the Mets try to trade Luis Castillo, his $18 million dollar contract, and a prospect for Vazquez, who is due $23 million over the next two seasons.
…repeat, that is a suggestion, made by sherman, not an actual offer that is on the table…though, if it were, i would do it in a heartbeat…it cuts $5 million from Chicago’s payroll, gets them a prospect, rids the Mets of castillo, and essentially brings in a fifth starter for an additional $5 million…
Vazquez was 12–16 with a 4.67 ERA with 200 strike outs in 208 innings pitched. He had a 3.74 ERA in 2007.
He will earn $11.5 million in each of 2009 and 2010, after which he is eligible to be a free agent.





dear god no
So you would rather keep Castillo than to bring him in as a 5th starter?
If he could be had for Castillo, Evans and a prospect then why not?
holy cow.. we agree on something :-)
I’d hate to give up more than Evans.
Um this guy is good why wouldnt people want him in the rotation?
For reals. 4.67 ERA in the AL, in U.S. Cellular and in front of that defense is a solid rotation piece here.
wonder if they have a minor league middle relief pitcher that we could take as well. someone with a good arm. don’t care if he is 21 yrs old and in AA.
It’s been 24 hours no deals YET!!
ehhhhh……if it can get castillo off our backs….
why would there be anyone on this site opposed to this? I know it’s not even CLOSE to an actual rumor, but lets say it is…. Vazquez is a good pitcher that always gives you innings, strikes out guys, and doesnt get hurt. Putting him in at 4th or 5th ANDDDD getting rid of castillo should be a vote that gets100% agreement from the readers
Sure. Depending on the prospect. I wouldnt throw in Neise, for example.
Vasquez has good stuff but he has a rep for struggling in big games. But a change to the NL can only be beneficial for any pitcher.
Without comment on this particular deal (which i say, sure what the heck), I understand why GMs and other officials are partial toward the players they’ve known in the past, but haven’t the Nationals/Expos been awful for a really really long time?
I know Omar did the most with what he had with that organization, but the players there didn’t get it done, why bring them in here when they are older and even less likely to get it done?
vazquez would be fine for a 5th starter. And based on recent years, he is getting 5th starter money (silva, etc.) anyway.
Castillo and Carp for Vazquez? Something like that sounds fine. Mets eat the $$
Carp isn’t likely in the 2009 plans and can be replaced. Vazquez fills a gaping hole in the rotatin (letting Perez walk). Castillo is addition by subtraction.
Maybe the team gets some stones and takes a shot with Murphy at 2B. Just get a solid back up bench guy.
THis one move takes care of 3 problems, while convserving key prospects, and not impacting budget much:
1) Castillo is gone (has to happen)
2) Murhpy gets a psition (and hopefully 2B is set for years to come)
3) one of the back of the rotation spots is filled with a guy that can at least go deep in games.
Then, Omar can deal with LF, and the pen, and either get 1 more SP or let the 5th guy come from the young crowd (like neise).
I don’t understand why Chicago would do this but I would jump all over it. Vasquez is a much better pitcher than his ERA would have you believe, he was hurt a lot by the whitesox “defense” and playing in a hitters park. He’d arguably be the second best pitcher in our rotation.
The idea is that it would be a trade of bad contracts to fit the needs of the club better. While the White Sox would lose that man on the back end of their rotation, they would drop $5 million and also acquire a prospect.
But I, too, don’t think they’d do it.
Matt, would you includ the age of players that
are mentioned in rumors of becoming Mets?
Thanks.
He was called out by his manager for not having any heart during a playoff run. We’ve had 3 years of t hat. No thanks. Plus his post-season stats are awful.
Ozzie Guillen is a nutjob, man. I would take his criticisms with a grain of salt.
I think the Mets need to worry about regular season stats before postseason stats come into a play. This is a team that has only one appearance in the last 7 years!
Here’s one for you. Vasquez and Dotel for Castillo, Evans, and Parnell.
Hate to give up Parnell there but Dotel could close. He seems to be healthy.
If I could not give up Parnell what are the other options. What about the other kid we have that plays 3B besides Murphy?
Why do you hate to give up Parnell?
Because of the 30 middle relievers we’ve drafted the last 2-3 years he’s one of the few who may actually be able to be a middle reliever in the major leagues.
Based on what?
Based on that fact we’re desperate for middle relievers. And his arm doesn’t top out at 83 mph like the rest of the ones we have.
fwiw I was joking, I think mets fans overrated our prospects insanely and Parnell is probably gets overrated the most. Most teams have a dozen Parnell’s we just had to turn him into the starter because we have very very few legit starting prospects. Which is a whole nother issue I could rant on for days about.
The arm in the Mets system that intrigues me is Brad Holt.
I think there is so little in our system that guys like Evans are looked at by the fan base as a coveted prospect. I suspect that he is not.
Parnell too.
The only arm that really intrigues me is Moviel I’m kind of indifferent on Holt until I read he’s developed more pitches.
The best arm in the system belongs to Jenrry Mejia.
He’s also like ten with one pitch and poor control isn’t he? He’s an extreme project and probably a long way and a lot of work away from being considered anything.
Yeah, but you guys were talking about the most intriguing arm. And Mejia has the best pure stuff in the system from what I have seen.
I would do this deal in a heartbeat, if only because it gets rid of Castillo. I’d do this deal (hate to give up Parnell, maybe offer 3B Shawn Bowman or other pitching prospect) and then sign Fuentes ( idon’t think the Mets sign K-Rod anyway) to give the Mets a lefty-right combo closer, or Dotel sets up Fuentes.
If I got Dotel then I would bring in Cruz and Affedlt. Let them compete for closer. No need to waste money on Fuentes. I am willing to bet that any of those 3 could do better at closer than Fuentes.
Vasquez would be more like our number 3 next year because he is better then Maine. Move him to a weaker NL he will pitch much better. If the Mets sign Lowe then ok number 4 but this a no brainer if you can dump Castillo and give up a prospect for him I would do it.
Who says he is not a big game pitcher? If I remember correctly doesn’t this guy have a ring already? What Mets starters have a ring? The only Mets pitcher who proved to be the man in big games last year was Santana.
9/23/08:
The Twins trail the Sox by 2.5 games, 3 in the loss column with only a week left in the season.
The starting pitchers for the first game will be Scott Baker and Javier Vazquez, who received some extra “encouragement” from his eccentric manager and former White Sox shortstop, Ozzie Guillen in the Chicago Sun-Times:
‘’He hasn’t been [a big-game pitcher], that’s the bottom line…
As for having a ring: If the Mets won in 06 Trax would have a ring, would you want him in a big game based on that?
But the Mets did not win in 06 and Vazquez was a big part of why the White Sox’s won.
The only pitcher on our team that is better them this guy is Santana and Pelf that is it.
And Ozzie saying this guy is not a big game pitcher means nothing. That is like listening to Hank the Yank talk means nothing.
I am not saying he is a big game pitcher like Santana showed but he is by no means a pitcher who folds in big games.
When the White Sox won it all in 05, Vasquez was busy being league average for the D’Backs. He doesn’t have a ring.
That said, if he doesn’t cost you too much in prospects and you can get rid of Castillo it’s a good move. 200+ average innings is quite valuable.
We’re taking what Ozzie Guillen says at face value??
Who in the heck would do well when the manager calls you out in public like that?
I know really Ozzie is a jack off.
This guy never gets hurt goes over 200 innings every year … strikes out over 200 every year. He is very solid and moving to the NL he would even be better.
To give up Castillo and a prospect for him would be worth it.
he has a 9+ ERA in the post season.
I’m not sure he’s better than Maine. Nor do I take Ozzie at 100% face Value. Didn’t Javy not do well for the Yanks?
There are worse deals we could make, but there’s something about this guy I don’t like is all.
The Mets are not a postseason team…They need to get their first.
I mean “there.”
Vazquez is a good pitcher. He’d be a solid # 3 guy. We’re talking about a healthy 32 year old pitcher who’s had at least 32 starts, 11 wins and 198 innings in every year of this decade. He’s never had an ERA higher than 4.42 in the NL. My point is he’s a good pitcher and he really isn’t as expensive as some people think he is. 11.5 million a year is the going rate for an average pitcher. It might even be more. Ollie, Lowe or Garland wouldn’t just get more per year, but they’d get more years.
The White Sox are not taking Castillo back. That’s a dream. The Mets may be able to send say Schoenweis who’s due 3.6 million and use that towards signing a good left-handed reliever like Reyes, Affeldt or Rhodes. Throw in a mid-level prospect or two and the deal can get done.
Vazquez would be a great fit. He gets to move to the easier league, and a pitcher that relies on his changeup which doesn’t decline quickly.
He’s also a durable guy and is the exact type of guy they should be looking for at the back of the rotation.
if it costs castillo and a not so great prospect id do it in a second!!!
if we trade for him, then we can sign one of lowe, burnett, garland etc.
johan
pelf
lowe/burnett/garland
vasquez
maine
Exactly, sign Garland who is a type B and save the picks.
A rotation of
Johan
Pelfrey
Vazquez
Maine
Garland
Is not bad at all.
Would rather sprinkle one more lefty in there.
You know who we really should go get? Mike Arbuckle who resigned from the Phillies when he didn’t get the GM job.
Anything to get rid of Castillo….. could we get Roberts from the Orioles straight up for Heilman??
Why would they trade an all-star 2nd baseman who is Highly Regarded and highly respected for a Reliever coming off his worst season?
Maybe if the Mets threw in a big prospect(Murphy, Neise, F-Mart) and ate an awful contract like Cabrera’s. Then you might have something cooking.
Why would we have to do that? I thought all teams were eager to give the Mets stars in exchange for middling prospects and troubled big leaguers.
At least that’s the impression I get reading trade suggestions on Metsblog.
No, thats the Yankees they do that for.
The only way the Mets get Castillo off their hands in this deal is if they include Murphy. Kenny Williams is not a moron. As a 200 innings pitcher with an average ERA, Vazquez still has some value. Castillo on the other hand has no value. He cannot play 3 games in a row.
Haha! Did you guys read the comments on the article? White Sox fans think they’ll get prospects from the Mets and have them eat the whole contract…Yeah right. Only way i would make this trade is if the WS take Castillo.
Just so that we are all on the same page, the whole point of the article was that Vasquez is available, but still has some value. That means he won’t be traded for Castillo unless we are really pouring on the prospects. The idea was never to trade Castillo, but to fill a rotation spot with a decent guy someone else wanted to unload for peanuts because of his contract, so maybe Show for Vasquez straight up and no money changes hands.
Well 23 million dollars for two years for a fifth starter is not what i would want the Mets to do. I’m sure we could get a fifth starter for cheaper.
The thing is Vaquez is a much better pitcher than a 5th starter.
Well, i might be looking at the wrong part of his stats then. I hear from WS fans that he doesn’t pitch well in big games :o
Please no Garland, he is not good for the $/yrs it will take, horrrrrendous K rate, less than 2:1 k/bb, gives up a ton of hits, much rather try neise and save 10-12 mil, or veteran guy, even pavano, I’d love for pavano to come to the mets for 1 mil+ incentives and outproduce his 4 yrs as a yank…..anyway Vaz for castillo is a no brainer, i throw in Murphy and drive Luis to the windy city.
Vazquez at shea in the NL could be a whole lot more than #5, prob be our #2, Vazquez is not a straight salary dump, esp if we are dumping castillo we’d have to add a Neise or Murph to get that done, not carp, evans parnell no one wants those guys
I’ve reached the point where I’d like to see Omar eat Castillo’s contract, because I don’t believe there is another GM stupid enough to take Castillo on board unless the Mets are willing provide prospects plus an even bigger, unwanted contract ala Vasquez.
Perhaps next time he won’t hide his head somewhere dark before handing out big favors to agents and players within his ‘circle of trust’ while mumbling “a lifetime .300 hitter.”
Furthermore, if the Wilpons believe I’m spending a dime to attend Citifield, they better find a few players with stones, not empty sacks, between their legs. I’m not sure Vasquez fits the description.
I’ll only make an exception for when the Phillies come to town so I can check out those 2008 World Series rings.
He couldn’t handle New York the first time. What makes people think this time around will be any different?
Do it Now!!! He eats innings and only has to be a #4 starter here. Omar get it done ASAP!!!
How could anyone be against getting Vazquez for Castillo and a midlevel prospect…do people not know how good of a pitcher this guy is? Is it because of a bad year with the Yankees in 2004?
Vazquez immediately becomes the 2nd best starter on this team if they get him, and frankly it’s not even close.