John Harper thinks the Yankees should trade Javy Vazquez to the Mets. He is wrong.
First off, Vazquez is making $11.5MM this season. Unless the Yankees want to pay the rest of it, I don’t think anyone would take it on. I also don’t think that the Yankees would want to pay someone with Vazquez’s talent to not pitch for them. It’s also doubtful that the Yankees will give up on Vazquez at all. Anyway, onto Harper’s article.
PHILADELPHIA – There’s a perfect solution to the Javy Vazquez problem in the Bronx: trade him to the Mets and everyone comes away happy.
Well, no. It’s not a perfect solution and not everyone comes away happy.
Think about it. For the Mets there’s just no getting around the obvious – they’re going to need another starter to parlay their hot couple of weeks into serious contention this season. They can’t live with the inconsistencies of both John Maine and Oliver Perez over the long haul.
Sure, getting Javy Vazquez makes sense for the Mets. He is, after all, a pitcher with a good track record. Anyone would want him.
And while Vazquez is a mess mentally trying to overcome his issues pitching with the Yankees, put him back in the National League and he’d likely go right back to being a dependable starter, if not the Cy Young contender he was last year.
So being in the NL will give Javy his fastball velocity and curveball movement back?
For the Yankees, meanwhile, they could wash their hands of what is developing into a major problem. And the way Phil Hughes is pitching, as well as their Big Three, they could plug Sergio Mitre – who has looked very good in relief – into the rotation and be just fine.
Sergio Mitre has pitched 7.1 innings and has walked more batters than he’s struck out. His ERA looks great at 1.23, but his FIP is at a solid-but-much-less-impressive 3.98 and his xFIP is 5.41. Right now he’s giving up fewer than three (!!) hits per nine, has an .088 BA against and a .102 BABIP against. Those numbers will not keep up in relief, let alone starting in what is arguably the toughest division in American sports.
Considering the Yankees would also be dumping Vazquez’s $11.5 million salary, it shouldn’t take more than a decent prospect to make it a fair swap.
I can has Jenrry Mejia?
Somehow, I don’t think Cashman is ready to [trade Mitre]
Hey, look at that! I agree with him, but for different reasons. Harper says it’s about pride. I think he’s not ready to do that ’cause it’s May 4th as I write this and no player should be given up on that early.
Cut to the end after a few paragraphs detailing Minaya’s former pursuits of Vazquez and how the Mets feel good about Johan, Mike Pelfrey, and Jon Niese and how they don’t want to solve their pitching problem by letting Jenrry Mejia start.
The easy answer to all of this is Vazquez. It makes all the sense in the world for both the Mets and Yankees. If only someone could convince Cashman of that.
Well, frankly John, you’ve done an awful job at explaining why. You don’t say why it works for the Yankees, nor do you specify whom they should receive. Better luck next time.
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4 Responses to Harper Wrong
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TIQ IQ
The title of the piece should have been, “The Yanks should “give” Vasquez to the Mets (just because the Mets need him).”
Agreed that its a dumb article. Vazquez could compete for the Cy Young in the National League but will continue to stink if he stays on the Yankees? 7 innings of solid relief mean that Mitre would excel as an AL East starter despite the fact that never enjoyed much success as a starter in the NL? I’m not that familiar with Harper to know whether he’s usually this bad but I expect better thinking from the average fan let alone sportswriters. I still expect that Vasquez will turn things around in the next month as long as its a mechanical problem and not a health issue. I’ll disagree with Matt that teams wouldn’t take on his contract. I think the Mets or the Mariners off the top of my head would probably jump at the chance. That said, its far to early to give up on him and there is no reason to sell cheap in a panic.
the fjm thing has been overdone to death and not well. ie here
It is called fisking, and it predates FJM. It is a legitimate tool to critique an article, and need not be done “FJM=style,” with sarcasm and derision. I thought Matt did a nice job poking holes in the argument.