White Sox Obtain Javier Vazquez

In a move that took both me and Mark Gonzales by surprise, the White Sox acquired starter Javier Vazquez for center fielder Chris Young (plus the unwanted salaries of Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino).  Whenever a defending World Champion makes a couple of major trades, the GM is inevitably described as "bold" in the media.  I'm not sure whether I count as a member of the media, but "bold" is getting cliche.  Check out some of these synonyms:  spunky, audacious, gritty.  I think I'll call Kenny Williams spunky when referencing the Vazquez and Thome deals.

If you're a Sox fan, you can't possibly dislike this trade.  It's a classic Williams "win now" move.  He's been doing this for years, dealing can't-miss prospects for all sorts of players.  And why not?  The White Sox have raised tons of failed #1 prospects through the years.  Remember Scott Ruffcorn, Chris Snopek, Mike Caruso, Jon Rauch, and Joe Borchard? 

Williams was dealing from a position of strength in center field.  The 22 year-old Young was ranked #7 among White Sox prospects by Baseball America entering the 2005 season. (If you're curious, Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood, who were used in the Thome deal, ranked #8 and #19, respectively).  Young is a skinny, speedy athletic guy with good power.  He hit .277/.377/.545 in Double A this year and plays a mean center field.  Baseball America compares him to Mike Cameron and says he'll be ready by 2007.  By that time, the D-Backs' young outfield should be in full force, boasting Carlos Quentin, Young, and maybe Conor Jackson.

But the White Sox have no reason to worry about 2007.  In Vazquez, the club has added a durable innings eater with solid peripheral stats.  By that I mean he strikes people out and keeps the walks down.  Home runs have been an issue for the last couple of years, and it ain't gettin' better at U.S. Cellular.  In fact, the Cell will exacerbate the problem.  Still, Vazquez can be counted on for 400 innings of at least league average pitching for the next two years, which is plenty valuable.  The fact that Arizona took the washed-up Orlando Hernandez and might give the Sox some cash makes the deal look even better for Chicago.   

I'll probably break out a RotoAuthority projection for Vazquez later today, but for now let's see what Bill James's minions came up with.  They expect Vazquez to go 12-11 with a 3.85 ERA over 211 innings in '06.  Projected WHIP is 1.25, and a 7.8 K/9 is predicted.  Of course, the effects of U.S. Cellular and the AL aren't factored into that projection.

Comments

[Jim Hendry]

Isn't it sad how stupid and incompetent I look compared next to Kenny Williams. His team won the WS and he is improving it. My time played like crap and I'm putting out almost the same crap. Well, at least the Tribune Company can save some money. Well, maybe if I pretend Juan Pierre is much better than he actually is people will cut me some slack. No wodnder I keep Dusty around, if I actually had a decent manager I would take the blame for nto being able to multi-task or sign the players this team needs. Go Cubs. At least we have a knothole now.

[James]

This trade is essentially Young for Vasquez, and while Young has a ton of talent, is that really all Byrnes could get for Javy? Hernandez is fading, and Vizcaino is nothing more than a 6th or 7th inning dime a dozen arm. After the comments on ESPN about Byrnes having tons of deals to "sift through and go over", I find it tough to believe this was the best one. Then again, we dont really know.

Solid deal for the Sox.

[mike]

It is a solid deal for the White Sox, but only if they make one more move. They have 6 SP's right now. I see them trying to trade Garland pretty soon. Probably for a 3B like blalock.

[DNL]

Who wants to bet that it turns out to be Garland wh goes, the White Sox sign Clemens next, then trade for Wells?

Duque, Clemens, Wells, Contreras, Vazquez . . . sounds familiar.

[RumorMonger]

That would be awesome, DNL.

I guess Byrnes is just really high on Young...I wonder what other names were out there. I think I read somewhere that TB offered Kazmir for Soriano; I would've taken Kaz.

[RumorMonger]

Yeah it really does make Hendry look bad. I know, I know, the offseason's not over yet, but he's not going to do anything spectacular.

[diehardcubbiefan]

I dont think the sox have enough $$$ for Clemens, hwoever, i do think Garland and/or Contreares will get traded off.

[Andy McPhail]

To all the posters that are Sox Fans on this thread or bitter Cubs fans I have a statement to make. I am the reason that we did not get Rafael Furcal, Furcal was going to take a pay cut of around 2.5 million in order to sign with us, but I put the Kaybash on Jim in order not to spend that much money. Instead we went with Juan Pierre, and now will be kicking ourselves because we don't know what to do at short or second, and our right field position. God knows we don't want Corey Patterson in that spot. In Dusty we Trusty, and don't forget the last five letters of my name PHAIL. That's what I intend to do.

~Andy

[Jeff]

DNL,

Hernandez was sent to AZ as a part of that deal. My guess is that they will have McCarthy fine tune himself in the bullpen and then kick him out there if someone gets injured or is ineffective. Either way, great trade for the sox, this kid is like Kerry Wood in his pitches and talent level, only he stays healthy.

[patbooyah]

when you do your projection, i can understand factoring in the fact that the cell is a HR hitters park, but are you also going to factor in the genius of don cooper? look at loaiza... contreras... jenks... garland... hermanson... vizcaino...

it seems that every pitcher that comes to the sox gets better...

[RumorMonger]

Hmmm...good point on Cooper. If I could quantify it (as they have with Mazzone somewhat) then maybe...but I think it'll be without a Cooper adjustment.

[dan]

i dont remember any of the prospects you listen, monger. or is that the irony of the statement?

[dan]

listed*

[RumorMonger]

yeah, it is. all were ranked the team's #1 prospect by Baseball America at one point, and all pretty much flamed out.

[James]

While I do see Garland being traded, I don't think it would be for Blalock. His road stats are just awful. I assume it will be a package deal of Garland and "position player" for a better position player. So Garland and Uribe for Tejada. Of course it would take more than that to get it done, but that's a pretty good start.