Minnesota Twins Sign Catcher Christian Vazquez

[roger]

Just filled their #1 need this off-season.  I don’t know a lot about this young man, but what y’all are saying above sounds like he should be a good #1a with Jeffers demoted #1b.  What is he, the fifth or sixth Puerto Rican on the team.  Who knows, maybe that puts Correa over the last hurdle?

The two biggest needs I see remaining are that stud late inning bullpen arm and a catcher like Leon on a minor league contract to work with the young guns at St Paul and be ready as an injury replacement.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Eleven Defensive Runs Saved last year, tied Vasquez with Realmuto in 4th place among catchers plus an extremely quick pop time release, plus a good veteran clubhouse presence, who has been on two WS Championship teams...that's my kind of catcher. Great signing FO. Thank you.  

[AceWrigley]

Interesting headline at MLB Trade Rumors before the trade announcement, "Christian Vázquez Reportedly Progressing Towards Deal With Unknown Team." They've never heard of the Twins? ?

[AceWrigley]

1 hour ago, baul0010 said:

The trade makes no sense for the A's who dealt the best player of them all, and their return seemed the worst.

I don't know, but the A's got a bunch of pitching prospects on top of outfielder Ruiz that in a few years could make it look like they fleeced them.

[jun]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

Nope... it's inexplicable how the Brewers got Contreras, a reliever, and a relief prospect for Esteury Ruiz. 

https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-acquire-catcher-william-contreras-r632/ 

You just have to be creative. You just have to believe that anything is possible.

[DocBauer]

Initially, this is not the move I saw. I thought Narvaez or Barnhart made sense as solid, veteran additions from the LH side considering previous MO. But I've never believed "handedness" was the most important factor in putting together a catching tandem.

I will repeat my previous thoughts and echo those posted above me, this provides the staff with a quality, experienced catcher with an OK bat who also provides a mentor for Jeffers in the same way Castro did for Garver a few years ago. Vazquez has caught a lot of great pitchers, has been on winning teams, has a pair of WS rings, and is reported as a good clubhouse guy. These are important factors over and above pure batting numbers.

Jeffers is still only 25yo, had a little over 500 AB, and a ton of potential. He has the ability to learn from Vazquez, maybe relax a bit more, and grow further in to his role.

"Rumors" were that Vazquez wanted to be guaranteed a #1 job. Well I don't like to place too much stock in to rumors, especially in this case. Even as the potential #1 right now, easy to see a 60/40 time share. I think he signed because it's a great offer on a team that has potential.

Man, I really like this signing, even if it doesn't grab headlines.

[Dman]

31 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

I don't know, but the A's got a bunch of pitching prospects on top of outfielder Ruiz that in a few years could make it look like they fleeced them.

Agreed. Tarnok is a K machine and at AAA so very close to his MLB debut.  Muller is another AAA pitcher with good stuff and rated Oaklands number 5 prospect in a loaded system. Ruiz has 80 grade speed and 900 OPS at AAA and is rated number 6.  His MLB debut did not go well but 80 grade speed can play well especially if he has a decent hit tool. 

Oaklands farm is loaded right now and they will draft high again this year so in the next couple of years they should be a young team and force to be reckoned with.  The A's found the pitching they needed and a center fielder that can fly.  They got what they needed to round out the roster.

[HerbieFan]

I honestly really like this move.  Interesting how a FO that is completely analytics-driven now seems to understand that things like "clubhouse presence" (See:  Correa, Carlos) actually matter and are an immeasurable value.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

3 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

When Correa signs with SF, this off-season can be officially labeled a Titanic-size failure.  But the payroll will be under $100M and the Pohlad's can celebrate (with KFC takeout to save money).

 

What is really sad here is that this signing is a positive in almost every way.  The contract is relatively low for a top-half catcher who is considered a good clubhouse guy and fairly durable. It doesn't cost them a ton of prospects either.

As if signing Correa and doing nothing else will win them the AL Central this year...

[singlesoverwalks]

Vazquez and Correa are both Puerto Rico Baseball Academy products (4 years apart). I bet the FO thinks having Vazquez around will make the Twins more enticing to Correa.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/schools/index.cgi?key_school=6a3a85df

 

[DocBauer]

39 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

What is really sad here is that this signing is a positive in almost every way.  The contract is relatively low for a top-half catcher who is considered a good clubhouse guy and fairly durable. It doesn't cost them a ton of prospects either.

As if signing Correa and doing nothing else will win them the AL Central this year...

Sad isn't it? If the Twins have actually offered a $300M deal to Correa to play ball in a city/organization he wants to be in and it's still not enough for his family and his future generations of family. The numbers we spit out are obscure to the general populace. I still have hope it's enough to make it happen.

[SwainZag]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

What is really sad here is that this signing is a positive in almost every way.  The contract is relatively low for a top-half catcher who is considered a good clubhouse guy and fairly durable. It doesn't cost them a ton of prospects either.

As if signing Correa and doing nothing else will win them the AL Central this year...

It's not even Christmas yet.  Can the "we only did this" takes wait until at least Spring Training?

Vasquez is an excellent add at an area of need

[Vanimal46]

I’m ambivalent about the deal. I do wonder what we’re going to say about him in years 2 and 3 of the contract. I doubt he’ll be a league average bat now and in the future. 

[Major League Ready]

He was the best option available unless you want to give up the haul Oakland got for Murphy.  There is a reason Oakland has the best winning percentage of any team outside the top 5 in revenue since the turn of the century.  They got 4 MLB ready players for 2 years of Murphy.  I will take Vazquez for 3/30 and look forward to finally having a great defensive catcher 4-5 days a week.

[MMMordabito]

Vazquez is a huge upgrade over Sanchez, IMO. He immediately starts out as the second best catcher in the division behind Salvy - The Great One.  I could see him earning half to two-thirds of that contract in year 1 and then see the time share with Jeffers swing in Ryan's favor more in years 2 and 3.

[jmlease1]

The money is a little higher than I expected, but Vazquez is a really nice player and getting another legit MLB catcher on the roster was absolutely a huge need, so I'm pretty happy with this move.

I haven't given up on Jeffers (unlikely many on this board who seem to prefer Sandy Leon and wanted Jeffers tied to a raft and set adrift at sea) but this is a bit of a signal of a loss in confidence in him/message that he has to step up his game. Maybe it's related to his poor results against righties, maybe it's a lack of faith in his health, but there's no question this is going to result in a demotion for him to the #2 guy, even if he'll still likely get 60-70 starts. We'll see how he responds.

I'm not surprised at this move: if this front office has any pattern it's that they work hard to set a floor for the team that they think will make them competitive, that they look to lift the bottom parts of the roster every year (whether you agree with how they do it is another story) and this definitely raises that level. Assuming reasonable health, we should be able to send out a starting caliber catcher every game. I like that.

[Nine of twelve]

12 hours ago, garn from vancouver said:

as much as i hate anything even remotely connected to the astros, this is good.

 

12 hours ago, CRF said:

Vasquez was with Boston when the Stros were banging the trash cans.

But the Red Sox did something similar when Vazquez was there and were caught and penalized. It's just that they weren't quite as egregious about it as the Astros were.

[rv78]

I like this signing. Twins have plenty of cash to sign FAs. No need to trade away more prospects for short-term fixes. I don't care if Vazquez is right-handed. So was Gary Sanchez and both he and Jeffers got plenty of at bats with the DH spot especially against lefties. Vazquez is a career .260 hitter. If he can hit that for the Twins I'll take it along with his good defensive skills. This is a win by the FO in my book.

[twinsfan02]

13 hours ago, garn from vancouver said:

as much as i hate anything even remotely connected to the astros, this is good.

He played half a season for them. Was traded there, not like he chose to play there. Relax.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

I honestly really like this move.  Interesting how a FO that is completely analytics-driven now seems to understand that things like "clubhouse presence" (See:  Correa, Carlos) actually matter and are an immeasurable value.

Really a good point Herbie.

[Dave The Dastardly]

13 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

Interesting headline at MLB Trade Rumors before the trade announcement, "Christian Vázquez Reportedly Progressing Towards Deal With Unknown Team." They've never heard of the Twins? ?

It is sometimes advantageous to disavow any knowledge of the Twins... like in the fall of the year when the players are collapsed on the diamond, their own hands wrapped around their throats.

[bloomwcjkl]

Between Jeffers, Vasquez and La Tortuga, we should be able to get to 162 games.?

32 year old catcher knees is my only worry.

[garn from vancouver]

11 hours ago, twinsfan02 said:

He played half a season for them. Was traded there, not like he chose to play there. Relax.

like i said, even remotely connected... i couldn't be more relaxed.