Vazquez/Young Perception At The Time
ESPN's Rob Neyer recently posted a mailbag question about the Javier Vazquez–Chris Young trade between the White Sox and Diamondbacks. On December 14th, 2005, the White Sox sent Young and the unwanted salaries of Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino to Arizona for Vazquez and cash. Neyer's reader began his question with:
Kenny Williams was roundly criticized back in 2005 for trading highly regarded 5-tool uber-prospect Chris Young to D-backs for often underachieving Javier Vazquez.
Cue the sound of screeching brakes…was Williams really roundly criticized on December 14th, 2005? This is where the MLBTR archives come in handy. It's cool to see how we evaluated trades the day they were made. Here's the post. I liked the deal as a win-now move for the Sox. MLBTR was only a month and a half old, so the post only has 15 comments. But there was no criticism of Williams.
How about South Side Sox, which opened its doors in April of '05? They seemed in favor of the deal, as did Ken Rosenthal in an excerpt found here. Sox Machine also liked the trade, and both blogs noted that Vazquez was a bargain compared to A.J. Burnett's newly-signed five-year, $55MM deal. Let's get an opinion from the other side with AZ Snakepit, which also started in 2005. The post's author, Jim McLennan, was "both enthusiastic and somewhat concerned" about the trade.
It seems to me that this trade was mostly properly evaluated when it was made. The Sox would eventually miss Young, but not in 2006. I think Neyer's commenter's general point was that Young hasn't been quite as good as advertised, with a career OBP of .301 in two-plus seasons.
Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Izturis, Gaudin
Links for Thursday…
- Check out this week’s minor league transactions. Some familiar names were signed.
- The Red Sox officially announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa.
- J.C. Bradbury likes the Dustin Pedroia contract.
- Sox Machine has parting words for Javier Vazquez, whose trade to the Braves was officially announced today. ESPN’s Keith Law tells you all you need to know about the players involved in the deal. Tyler Flowers is the key, Santos Rodriguez the wild card.
- The Rockies’ talks for lefty reliever Joe Beimel continue. In another article, Patrick Saunders looks at the team’s wish list.
- Rob Neyer believes teams are starting to figure out defensive evaluation, creating a weak market for lumbering LF/1B/DH types.
- Jesse Spector spoke to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski.
- T.R. Sullivan says the Tigers’ talks for Rangers catcher Gerald Laird continue.
- Larry Dobrow offers suggestions to fix the Reds.
- Aaron Gleeman says the Twins have already missed several good opportunities to affordably improve their bullpen.
- Viva El Birdos explains why the Cardinals should’ve offered arbitration to Russ Springer and Braden Looper.
- Lee Jenkins provides insight into Mark Teixeira – the perfect baseball player and ideal Boras client.
- Roch Kubatko says Cesar Izturis remains a strong possibility for the Orioles.
- Fred Claire notes that Jack Zduriencik will always remember Russell Branyan as his first free agent signing. Geoff Baker examines the Branyan signing and the Ken Griffey Jr. idea.
- Paul Sullivan suggests Chad Gaudin is a non-tender candidate for the Cubs. He’s set to get an arbitration raise on this year’s $1.775MM salary.
Javier Vazquez Trade Reactions
The word yesterday evening was that the Braves acquired starter Javier Vazquez and lefty reliever Boone Logan for Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez (MLB.com’s Mark Bowman confirms the prospects). Look for the trade to become official tommorrow. Reactions to the deal:
- South Side Sox expects a couple of accompanying moves: the trade of Jermaine Dye for a young starter and the signing of an affordable free agent outfielder. They don’t see the White Sox benefitting from the Vazquez trade in 2009, but at least Ozzie cleared out his doghouse.
- Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says the Sox will still have power if Dye is dealt. Gonzales also provides info on the prospects received for Vazquez.
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown says the White Sox are also willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome.
- Sox Machine provides a more in-depth look at the prospects.
- From the Braves’ point of view, J.C. Bradbury sees this as a solid win-now move that won’t affect the ’09 team.
- Ken Davidoff says the Braves will now have less of a need for Jake Peavy or A.J. Burnett. I think, though, that they’ll still aggressively try to acquire one of the two. Most of the rumored packages for Peavy didn’t involve the prospects sent to Chicago, with the possible exception of Flowers.
- Dave Cameron notes Vazquez’s career-long underachievement. This always baffled me when trying to do fantasy baseball projections based on component stats.
Braves To Acquire Javier Vazquez
7:42pm: O’Brien believes Chicago’s return to be Flowers, Lillibridge, third baseman Jon Gilmore, and pitcher Santos Rodriguez.
7:05pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the White Sox will actually receive four players in the deal. They’ll choose from a list of five, with Flowers and Lillibridge their top targets.
5:34pm: Rosenthal says an announcement could come Wednesday or Thursday. He says Lillibridge is in the deal along with a young starter, but it’s not Reyes. Additionally, highly regarded catcher Tyler Flowers might be the third prospect (which would improve the trade quite a bit for the Sox). Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein says Flowers profiles as an offense-first catcher, but there are questions about his ability to stay behind the plate. Dave O’Brien notes that Sox GM Ken Williams saw Flowers play in Arizona and "practically drooled over him."
5:19pm: ESPN’s Peter Gammons says Vazquez is flying to Atlanta tomorrow for a physical; the deal will be finalized then. The White Sox will send Vazquez and lefty Boone Logan to the Braves for Reyes, Lillibridge, and another prospect. I’m wondering – with Reyes and another prospect gone, do the Braves still have the goods to pull off a Jake Peavy trade? With Vazquez added, the Braves should be less desperate if talks for Peavy resume.
4:53pm: Rosenthal now says the Braves are on the verge of acquiring Vazquez.
4:22pm: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves are in serious discussions with the White Sox for starter Javier Vazquez. The White Sox could receive as many as three players, with Jo-Jo Reyes and Brent Lillibridge among the names discussed. Vazquez is set to earn $11.5MM in each of the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Acquiring him would definitely take some pressure off the Braves, who aim to add two quality starters to put in front of Jair Jurrjens.
Perrotto’s Latest: Teixeira, Burnett, Wilson
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has his Sunday article up. Let’s go through it:
- The Angels may be willing to match the Yankees $140MM offer to CC Sabathia. They won’t offer 10 years to Mark Teixeira. If they can’t land Teixeira, they will consider Pat Burrell for first base.
- A.J. Burnett is looking at the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, Orioles, and Phillies.
- The Twins want a left-side infielder for Delmon Young, so they can open a spot for Denard Span in the starting lineup.
- The Tigers are pursuing Jack Wilson from the Pirates and Matt Treanor from the Marlins. They are also putting high priority on signing Joe Beimel who’s getting interest from a number of teams.
- The Dodgers will not re-sign Rafael Furcal for health reasons so the Giants, Athletics, and Reds are his most likely destinations.
- The Cubs will need to offer more than Jason Marquis to the Royals for David DeJesus. If they can’t get it done, they’d sign Raul Ibanez over Bobby Abreu.
- The Braves are interested in Javier Vazquez and Jermaine Dye…
- The Reds need to offer more than Homer Bailey to get Dye.
- The Mets are considering Jon Garland, Vazquez, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays want more than Aaron Heilman for either of their starters.
- The Mets could soon become suitors for Manny Ramirez.
- The Brewers could soon become suitors for Francisco Rodriguez.
- The Astros are targeting Paul Bako and David Ross as backup catchers.
- The Rockies are trying to find lefthanders, eyeing Alan Embree, Will Ohman, Brian Shouse, and Glendon Rusch.
Mets Rumors: K-Rod, Dye, Vazquez
6:22pm: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Minaya has reached out to K-Rod and Fuentes. He says the Mets prefer free agency to trading.
We also have a rumor from Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He says the Mets offered Aaron Heilman to the Rockies for Street shortly after Colorado acquired him. The Rox wanted the Mets to add Pedro Feliciano, and the Mets refused. MetsBlog has more insight into the team’s plans.
1:33pm: Rounding up today’s Mets rumors…
- On Friday, David Lennon of Newsday said the Mets had received Francisco Rodriguez‘s medical records. He also had Omar Minaya saying the club’s doctors were looking it over. However, Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post writes today that the Mets did not receive the records until yesterday afternoon. According to Hubbuch, the Mets told Paul Kinzer they’ll get back to him after Thanksgiving regarding K-Rod.
- Hubbuch names five other Mets targets: Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood, Trevor Hoffman, J.J. Putz, and Huston Street.
- Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News talked to Minaya, who said the Mets have not made offers to any free agents yet.
- In case you missed it, Ken Rosenthal had several Mets nuggets in today’s column. He said the Mets balked at Chicago’s asking price for Jermaine Dye, and aren’t enamored with Javier Vazquez. Rosenthal believes the Rays’ Andy Sonnanstine "represents a more desirable target" for the Mets.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman rattles off a list of the Mets’ free agent targets, which does not include Manny Ramirez.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Dye, Burrell, Young
Here’s a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Rosenthal says the Braves are interested in A.J. Burnett, but you already knew that.
- Rosenthal believes Trevor Hoffman to the Dodgers "makes sense."
- The Red Sox apparently have confidence they could trade Mike Lowell if need be, but rival execs believe he’d have to prove his health in spring first. Lowell has two years and $24MM on his deal.
- The White Sox want a young starter and additional players for right fielder Jermaine Dye. The Mets, Rays, and Phillies are "balking at such a price." Rosenthal learned that most of the six teams on Dye’s no-trade list are in the northeast. Interesting that the White Sox are still willing to trade Dye after moving Nick Swisher.
- The Mets "aren’t enamored" with Javier Vazquez.
- Rosenthal suggests the Rays will sit back and hope one of the free agent DH-types becomes a bargain for them.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman wrote on Friday that the "Braves, Dodgers, and Mets are believed to be among teams that have inquired about Rangers starting pitchers Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla." However, Rosenthal says the Braves and Mets are not interested in either pitcher and the Rangers aren’t desperate to move them.
- Rosenthal has Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Pat Burrell on the Angels’ radar if they fail to sign Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, or Manny Ramirez.
- A rival GM tells Rosenthal Twins outfielder Delmon Young is "very, very much out there."
Mets Rumors: K-Rod, Fuentes, Vazquez, Garland
The latest on the Mets.
- Joel Sherman believes the Brewers could interfere with the Mets’ attempts to sign Brian Fuentes or Francisco Rodriguez.
- Ben Shpigel of the New York Times wrote this weekend that the Mets don’t appear likely to dabble in the second-tier relief market for pitchers like Juan Cruz or Joe Beimel.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog passes along a John Harper article from the New York Daily News, adding his own commentary.
- Harper believes the Mets may have to move on to Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland, and Edwin Jackson due to the high price tags on Boras clients Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe.
White Sox Considering Dye Trade
According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, White Sox GM and other front office members are evaluating talent at the Arizona Fall League for a possible Jermaine Dye trade. Dye can block trades to six teams, but Williams has a short list of suitors for him. He is set to earn $11.5MM in ’09 and has a $12MM mutual option for ’10 with a $1MM buyout.
Dye, 35 in January, hit .292/.344/.541 in 645 plate appearances. He plays a below-average right field, according to the plus/minus system. The Rays, Angels, Braves, Mets, Phillies, and Reds could be in the market for a corner outfielder. Gonzales says Williams hopes to build a younger and quicker team for the future.
Gonzales adds that White Sox officials watched Mets prospects Bobby Parnell and Eddie Kunz pitch. The Mets could match up on Dye, Javier Vazquez, or Bobby Jenks.
Heyman’s Latest: Manny, Martin, Jenks
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has some hot stove musings today.
- Heyman talked to one GM who asked (in reference to C.C. Sabathia), "When does anyone ever leave a dollar on the table, much less twenty or thirty million dollars?" I have heard this sentiment often but I do remember certain players leaving money on the table (often to play in California). Randy Wolf took less in ’06 to sign with the Dodgers, and Brian Giles did the same for the Padres in ’05. Kerry Wood turned down a multiyear offer from Boston last year. And how about Andre Dawson and the blank check in ’87? Evan Longoria left a ton of money on the table too, but let’s stick to free agents. Any other examples?
- Heyman still likes the Orioles as one of Manny Ramirez‘s suitors.
- Heyman describes the evidence as "fairly thin" that the Dodgers are looking to trade Russell Martin.
- White Sox GM Ken Williams is listening on Bobby Jenks, and the Mets are in on him. Javier Vazquez and Paul Konerko may also be available, though Konerko has full no-trade rights.