Fresh off his second World Series title, long-time Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez is a free agent for the first time in his career. With Willson Contreras inking a five-year, $87.MM deal with the Cardinals, Vazquez is arguably the top free agent catcher left on the board, rivaled by Sean Murphy in the trade market. This position has left Vazquez with a lengthy list of suitors, including the Twins, Padres, D-Backs, Guardians, Diamondbacks, and Giants.
Vazquez, a career .261/.310/.386 hitter, had a two-sided 2022 season. In Boston, the righty hit .282/.327/.432 with eight homers and 20 doubles. However, after being traded to Houston, Vazquez struggled, hitting a weaker .250/.278/.308 while splitting time with Martin Maldonado. Nevertheless, from 2019-2022, the backstop hit a solid .271/.318/416 (95 wRC+). Additionally, Vazquez has been solid behind the plate, having thrown out 34% of runners since his debut in 2014, ranking in the 71st percentile pop time to second base during the 2022 season, and has drawn plus framing marks from publicly available metrics via Statcast, FanGraphs, and Baseball Prospectus. With this solid season and a strong overall career, MLBTR predicts that Vazquez will earn a contract in the three years, $27MM range.
As for Vazquez’s free agent preferences, the 32-year-old has told reporters that a starting role and contending are at the forefront when determining his next home. With those two factors in mind, along with his strong history, here are some potential landing spots for the veteran.
Beginning with one of the more active teams during this year’s free agent period: the Padres. San Diego primarily relied on a tandem of Austin Nola and Jorge Alfaro in 2022, with Friars’ backstops hitting a combined .249/.303/.350 with a middle-of-the-pack wRC+ (88). With the Padres opting to non-tender Alfaro, the club is currently projected to start the 2023 season with Nola and Luis Campusano behind the dish. Neither player should necessarily be a roadblock to surveying the market for a team as aggressively motivated to win now as San Diego.
More importantly, the Padres have not been afraid to open their wallet, most recently signing former Red Sox teammate Xander Bogaerts to a colossal 11-year, $280MM deal. San Diego also offered Aaron Judge $400MM and Trea Turner $342MM, before the two players signed with other clubs. A win-now team searching for a catching upgrade, the Padres appear a logical candidate to pique Vazquez’s interest while simultaneously outbidding competitors.
Cleveland is another potential landing spot for the veteran, with Austin Hedges reaching free agency and leaving the unproven Bryan Lavastida and Bo Naylor as the only backstops on the 40-man roster. Naylor is a highly-regarded prospect, but turning everyday reps behind the dish over to a 23-year-old could be too risky for a team looking to defend their AL Central title. The Guardians posted the second-lowest combined wRC+ for catchers last season (55), utilizing a soft-hitting duo of Austin Hedges and Luke Maile, although Hedges is regarded highly for his defensive work. Vazquez’s addition would improve offensive output while maintaining a high defensive level for the club.
The Guardians have already made one significant free agent addition this offseason, signing Josh Bell to a two-year, $33MM deal with an opt-out after the first season. The team also made an offer for first baseman Jose Abreu, but couldn’t reach the $60MM threshold that the Astros closed in on. A team known for their low budget, the Guardians are also heavily involved in the Murphy trade market but will likely remain a player for Vazquez’s services if his price is not out of their comfort zone.
A third potential (wildcard) team for the backstop is a former AL East rival, the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay primarily relied on Francisco Mejia, who was widely considered one of baseball’s top minor leaguers, ranked as high as fifth in Baseball Prospectus’ top-100 prospect ranking prior to the 2018 season, during the 2022 season. However, after a solid 2021 season (.260/.322/.417), Mejia struggled in 2022, hitting a meager .242/.264/.381. Poor performance and injuries led Tampa Bay to acquire Christian Bethancourt from Oakland in early July. Bethancourt would perform marginally better, hitting .255/.265/.436 in 151 plate appearances with the Rays.
As a team, Rays’ catchers hit a combined .224/.248/.373 with a below-average wRC+ (78). Vazquez represents an offensive upgrade to these two players, albeit with a higher price point than both Bethancourt and Mejia, who are both on their rookie deals. Nevertheless, Mejia still has one MiLB option remaining, and Vazquez and Bethancourt have experience, although limited, in the field with Bethancourt playing 249 innings at first base during the 2022 season. Admittedly, this landing spot is the least likely of the three.
While the Padres and Guardians present more logical landing spots for Vazquez, competitive teams, like the Rays, may look to shuffle their roster to add a proven veteran backstop talent. Minnesota recently offered Vazquez a contract, and there are sure to be many teams involved in free agent discussions with the catcher as the offseason continues.
Any chance he returns to Boston?
Doubt it, Bloom wants his own guys.
guys on low 1 yr deals
So he’s Haywood Sullivan II?
Every GM wants his own guys. More like, wants starter money and would have to come back as #2 catcher.
Jones – Bloom didn’t even want him on the team this year, he’s poor at calling games and pitchers don’t like working with him. Finding a team willing to trade for him was one of the best things Bloom did, even if the prospects he got in return don’t work out. Fans don’t want him back either.
Who’s gonna catch there this year? Not many options out there.
As of this moment a platoon of Reese McGuire and Connor Wong would be the Red Sox duo, though i do expect them to add another Catcher.
The dream get would obviously be Sean Murphy but more realistically i could see Mike Zunino or Austin Hedges as possible bloom targets
Jones they have one guy who’s pretty good with his hands who can catch.
The…guy…who…called a no hitter in the World Series?
There’s no way some team is going to pay $27 million over 3 years for a 32 year old back up catcher who cannot hit.
Have you checked out the stats of other catchers in the league???
He was the starter in Boston and said he will only sign with a team that is making him the starter.
Start with reading the article next time, not commenting.
Life – You are 100% correct. Even worse, Vazquez made that demand during the World Series. He was too selfish and egotistical to wait until after the World Series. It did not go over well with his soon-to-be-ex-teammates.
He was tied for 5th place (with 3 others) on the rCERA leaderboard, which only takes into account how pitchers performed when he was receiving; so he obviously wasn’t that bad.
You realize he caught the Astros combined no hitter in game 4 of the WS right? The one with 4 different pitchers, on the team he joined in July, in Philly the night after the Astros got spanked, right? Just thought I’d remind you in case you missed that.
Josh – You realize he started only 24 of Houston’s 59 regular season games when he was with them, right?
You realize he started only 3 of Houston’s 13 postseason games, right?
You realize Carlos Ruiz caught a WS no-hitter, right?
Take a look at Vazquez’s Catcher ERA BY PITCHER, then try to tell me he’s a good catcher:
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=eoval…
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=salec…
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=pivet…
The Boston pitching staff had a 4.21 ERA when Vazquez was calling the game and 4.88 ERA when anyone else was behind the plate. He was 5th in rCERA in baseball. He calls a good game.
That’s cute, you have google. I actually watch baseball, in particular the Astros. He only started that many games because Maldonado was the starter. I’m sure if you research some more on your smart phone you’ll see the Astros passed on Contreras (who just signed a lengthy contract with that trash organization that’s known to love trash catchers) for Vasquez, for a very similar reason, no PT. I think I actually watched CV win three rings with two teams, he def must be trash. There is more to catching than whatever numbers you can pull up on whatever website you have bookmarked. Sometimes you just need to watch the game on the field to understand.
Can you verify any of that about Vazquez? Because I just found this article:
nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-rumors-red-sox-in…
Myth – Bloom is the last guy to believe after all his comments about how much he “loves” Xander and wants him back.
Actions speak louder than words, so here’s proof Bloom wanted Vazquez gone:
nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-rumors-why-red-so…
I figure that McGuire’s strong late-season play (likely unrealistic for an entire season) will give him an opportunity to claim the starting job. Wong also has done well in AAA, but hasn’t put it together yet against top tier pitching — will be interesting to see how long the Red Sox keep him on 40=man. Vazqy’s trade to the Astros also had its own clubhouse ramifications — not sure if those can be fully mended even with a little extra money.
What about the Red Sox? Used him as a trade chip, why not bring him back? They were already paying him $7M- what’s another $2M per year?
I can see why the Astros would want to move on, but on paper a reunion with the Red Sox looks sensible.
Bloom wants his own guys
Trill – No, it does not look sensible. He was not a good catcher, except for his arm. He made way too many mental errors and pitchers didn’t like pitching to him, he’s awful at calling games. I’d rather have no-hit Sandy Leon back instead of Vazquez.
He was a better catcher in terms of calling games than anyone else on the Red Sox last season by far. He was top 5 in rCERA which indicates he is very good at calling games.
He was better than average, but not great at pitch framing. He has a very good arm.
Never heard a single thing about pitchers not liking him behind the plate and because my wife is such a Red Sox fanatic we watch every broadcast. Do you have anyone that was quoted as saying that?
Life – I’m not familiar with you so I ask this question, are you a Red Sox fan?
Because every Red Sox fan knows Eovaldi and Sale and Porcello and Pivetta, to name just four, didn’t like pitching to Vazquez and preferred having other lesser known catchers. Who do you think started last year’s AL Wild Card Game? Plawecki, not Vazquez.
nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/of-all-players-lettin…
Vazquez hasn’t given the Red Sox anything since last April, when he told us he was feeling sexy at the plate. He hit two homers in the first six games and then just four the rest of the season, becoming a liability both standing at the plate and squatting behind it.
If Vazquez isn’t going to hit, and if pitchers prefer throwing to [Kevin] Plawecki, and if he can’t keep track of the outs, then why is he on pace to start over 100 games again?
Those struggles have carried over to 2022. He’s hitting just .220 with a .541 OPS and the ERA of Red Sox pitchers throwing to him is more than a run higher (3.65) than when Plawecki gets the call (2.50). If Vazquez hadn’t caught four out of 10 base stealers thus far, he’d be offering nothing of value.
There’s no reason Vazquez’s place in the lineup should be untouchable. He hasn’t been charged with a passed ball after leading the league in that category last year (10), but there have been four wild pitches on his watch, as well as other balls that squirted away because he tried to stab them with his glove rather than moving his body.
Eovaldi allowed 35 earned runs last year while throwing to each catcher, but Plawecki’s 35 came in 96 innings, compared to 66 for Vazquez. Nick Pivetta showed even more extreme splits, posting a 2.98 ERA with Plawecki and a 5.23 with Vazquez.
bosoxinjection.com/2019/07/09/red-sox-catcher-deba…
The big argument that Leon has in his favor is that both Chris Sale and Rick Porcello have astoundingly better ERA‘s when throwing to him versus Vazquez. Like, it isn’t even close. Not even the same ballpark. When pitching to Vazqy, Sale is tossing an astronomical 6.68 ERA while having a much more palatable 2.96 when pitching to Leon. The numbers are a big jump for a pitcher the caliber of Chris Sale.
A similar argument in the favor of Leon can be made for righty Rick Porcello. When tossing to Sandy his ERA is a solid 3.95. It’s nothing to write home about but it’s far better than the nearly doubled 7.42 ERA when Vazquez is behind the plate.
twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1443286957170122752…
@redsoxstats
Eovaldi – Plawecki
90 IP, 3.50 ERA, 2.49 FIP, .651 OPS
Eovaldi – Vazquez
66 IP, 4.77 ERA, 3.47 FIP, .766 OPS
In bloom world you look at options that have a known quantity. Then you do the opposite. We call that bloom world.
If there’s no gamble, there’s no point. Even his big ticket items – Story? Everyone questioned how he’d do outside colors. Yoshi? Everyone questions will his hit tool translate, can he do anything in the field, or will you have a low power DH. Paxton? Will he play? Turned out no, over 10m for nothing. Just go up and down the line.
Maybe it’s a gambling addiction?
I figure that McGuire’s strong late-season play (likely unrealistic for an entire season) will give him an opportunity to claim the starting job. Wong also has done well in AAA, but hasn’t put it together yet against top tier pitching — will be interesting to see how long the Red Sox keep him on 40=man. Vazqy’s trade to the Astros also had its own clubhouse ramifications — not sure if those can be fully mended even with a little extra money
Astros would like him back, but Maldonado is still the starter, so it’s doubtful he’d come back when he can start elsewhere.
I guess David Ross is going to come out of retirement to fill the gaping void left when the stupid Cubs and clueless Jed Hoyer let Willson Contreras walk.
Clueless is waiting for the Bucs to go dumpster diving for their next catcher while gullible fans believe otherwise
Ross can occasionally catch a game when Murphy needs a rest day.
Obviously you weren’t paying attention when the A’s said they want major league talent to part with Murphy.
The Cubs have Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins on the Major League roster and Miguel Amaya may factor in as well
Look at the numbers when Higgins catches, there is no way he is their option. Amaya was injured. The Cubs are definitely in on Vasquez. It’s weird they weren’t mentioned here.
I would be surprised if the cubs went after Vazquez. He wants to play for a contender, not a rebuilding team.
So he chose the Twins? I mean, LOL.
They have Gomes catching and was catching the majority of the games at the end of the year.
Wilson was not liked by the Cubs pitching staff and in St.Louis the Red Birds will learn that Wilson is not Yadier and will regret that contract.
The Cubs need a backup catcher and could just look for a minor leaguer to backup Gomes.
First Vazquez, now Contreras. Exactly which catcher do pitchers like to throw to?
Why Boston wouldn’t want this guy in Mcguire is a tandem is beyond me…trying to figure out why Bloom id afraid to spend with a 240m payroll
If you win your draft slot goes down. Bloom doesn’t want to win, he wants to collect prospects.
He just won’t admit it
Angels:
1. He’d be an upgrade at catcher, particularly useful as the running game should increase.
2. We need a platoon partner at first base.
3. We might actually need a first baseman
4. In which case our top prospect plays more catcher.
5. Also need depth at DH.
One guy fitting all those needs is a good thing.
I’d also love Wil Meyers as platoon 1B/outfield depth/pinch hit/DH guy.
Either move makes the team much deeper.
The Cardinals were rumoured to be in the hunt, however, Vazquez is a major contributor to anti-drunk driving causes and has been reportedly horrified with how the organization has dealt with those issues especially in the wake of Dan McLaughlin’s recent third DUI.
Well Contreras is better….
That depends on what you’re talking about. With his bat? Yeah, probably. Everything else, not at all.
Better hitter. Not better catcher.
I don’t think that would have been a factor in Vazquez’s decision. I’m a vegetarian but I don’t get up and leave when I find that others at my table eat meat.
Tim, there are porn ads on your site. Yikes
Not only caught a multiple pitcher no-no in the WS, but was catcher for two different world championship teams. I’d say he’d be a catch, no pun intended.
Truthfully the Cubs should pick him up and platoon him with Gomes and if he isn’t the answer they can trade him at the deadline.
Jake- so at $9 million a year for 3 years, if he turned out not to “be the answer”, how do you propose the Cubs would trade 33 year old Vazquez and the two-plus years and $22 million or so that would be left on his contract at the 2023 deadline?
Even if it did work out, $15 million would be a lot to have tied up in him and Gomes. Besides, Vazquez has stated that playing regularly and winning are his main objectives.
He’d make a lot more sense for about half a dozen other teams.
When fans say $15M is “a lot” for a team like the Cubs…..
Typical cubs fan.
No mention of the Cubs?
While I would love to see Christian on the Guardians, I will believe it when I see it.
It would take at least a three year contract to interest him in coming to Cleveland, and possibly four. That places him squarely in the way of Bo Naylor. I, personally, think a Vazquez/Naylor catching duo would be really strong and allow time for Bo to learn the position, I don’t see the Guardians being open to a three or four year contract for a catcher.
a starting role and contending…. that leaves out the Twins on 2 counts
I was surprised they offered him a contract. They’ve said C is a shared position and he says he wants a clear starting role.
They do that just for show… and are surprised when someone says yes like Correa did.. its all about image… and all their talk about being ” competitive”… what does that mean?… its not like they are saying ” we want to win it all… “.. no its more like we don’t want to be an embareassment to the owners… nothing more..
Brewers
Before Vazquez I’d rather the dbacksgo after Salvador Perez and Brady Singer. Sure dbacks get nailed with downside of Perez but can make it up with Singer surplus value. Drey j, dru Jones, alek thomas and Henry.
Did you really just suggest Jameson, Jones, Thomas, and Henry for Singer and Perez? Please tell me you’re joking.
That offer gets a hearty laugh and a hangup from Hazen.
The Cubs should be considering him too.
He’d be fine, but bring back Zunino.
Just not really relevant to even include SD despite the idea that “they’re in on everyone”. Melvin made it clear last year that he won’t carry more than 2 catchers unless one is injured. Unless you expect them to get rid of Nola ( the guy who caught every inning of the playoffs) or Campusano in a lucrative trade then there’s no point.
I think the Pads would be OK with Vazquez/Nola behind the plate.
The Padres carried 3 catchers 2 months of last season when none was in the IL.
With the DH there is no reason to not carry 3 catchers if one is a good hitter.
If it weren’t for “money,” I’d think the Brewers would be a good landing spot. But we got too many money problems currently (in theory), that we won’t add a contract this big.
(Meant as it’s own thread, not tied to MLGraham’s)
Not that they would, because they won’t. But what if the Pirates made a move. It’s clear they have Endy and Davis both as viable options behind the plate but Endy is a year away and can play outfield where the Pirates lack upper tier farm prospects. That would allow them to then bring up Davis as a catcher in 1.5 to 2 years without needing to be rushed.
If the Pirates wanted to spend any money this wouldn’t be the worst option.
Vazquez to DBacks ideally. Gallen, Kelly, Jameson, and Nelson threw an above average rate of pitches to the edge, so he might be able to take advantage of some extra strikes. Bumgarner could certainly use some help with the gloveside Cutter/4-Seam and Curve/Change down as well.
Vazquez in front of Walker, Ahmed, Rivera, and Marte (hopefully his agility focused offseason goes well), with Carroll, Varsho, and Thomas/McCarthy in the grass is an absolutely STACKED defense; easily Top 5 in my humble opinion.
I wouldn’t count on too much offensive value (especially on the backend), but a high contact/all-fields hitter certainly has a chance to mesh well with a contact/speed oriented offense.
It’s shocking to read that the D-backs AND the Diamondbacks are both interested.
Diamondbacks frontrunners confirmed.
egads
Hard to believe Vazquez is underrated after playing in BOS so long but he is. The metrics look good. Catchers can’t entirely be evaluated by metrics. Many catchers who don’t throw well and/or frame well have been highly regarded by teams because of their work with the pitchers. One example is Kurt Suzuki. Watching him he was the worst pitch framer Ive ever seen but pitchers/coaches consistently said he was a great catcher, on ATL at least. I’m sure many will disagree with me but the biggest part of a catchers game is not evaluated statistically (beyond splits b/t them and the backup which is inherently flawed by nature). Bethancourt, coming up, was considered at one time to be a great catcher because of his arm in the minors but the Braves clearly never believed in him, even before he started struggling defensively.
Campusano must be feeling real good right now.
Big fail on the part of the author to not even mention a team that has already made a formal offer to Vasquez….The Minnesota Twins.