White Sox set to add Vazquez and say bye bye to El Duque

[riverside sluggers]

D-Backs, White Sox near Vazquez deal

Righty appears headed to Sox for El Duque, prospect Young

By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com

 

PHOENIX -- It appears the Diamondbacks and White Sox are close to a deal that would send Javier Vazquez to Chicago in exchange for pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and highly regarded outfielder Chris Young. The two teams are expected to announce the deal on Wednesday. Arizona acquired Vazquez last January in a trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Yankees and the veteran exercised his contractual right to demand a trade last month after going 11-15 with a 4.42 ERA in 33 starts in 2005. Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes, who has worked tirelessly for the past month exploring the market for Vazquez, declined to confirm or deny the trade when reached on Tuesday night.

 

The potential move would help the D-Backs fill Vazquez's spot in the rotation, but the real key to the deal was Young, a center fielder that has both speed and power. Last year with Double-A Birmingham, the 22-year-old hit .277 with 41 doubles, 26 homers and 32 stolen bases in 38 attempts. The year before for Class A Kannapolis, he had 24 homers and 31 steals. Baseball America, which ranked Young as Chicago's sixth-best prospect before his outstanding 2005 season wrote, "Designated as the best athlete and quickest baserunner in the organization, Young is blessed with tremendous speed and is blossoming into a power hitter as well."

 

Hernandez was 9-9 with a 5.12 ERA for the White Sox last season and probably made his biggest contribution to the world champions in Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Red Sox. Hernandez entered the game in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, no outs and the White Sox clinging to a one-run lead. The right-hander got Jason Varitek and Tony Graffanino to pop out before fanning Johnny Damon to end the frame and the White Sox went on to win the game and sweep the series.

 

Hernandez, whose age has been reported to be anywhere between 36 to 40, defected from Cuba in December of 1997 and pitched for the Yankees from 1998 through 2004 before signing a two-year contract with the White Sox last year. His base salary for next season is $4.5 million, while Vazquez will cost Chicago $11.5 million in 2006 and $12.5 million in 2007. The White Sox were interested in Vazquez because he gives them insurance in case starters Jon Garland and/or Jose Contreras leave the club after next year when they will become free agents.

 

"We are looking to get better, and we don't want to put ourselves in a position where our first priority is compromised and that's pitching," White Sox GM Kenny Williams told reporters before word of the deal leaked. "We are not trying to break up anything. We are looking to add to the equation, fortify it, and not anything else." The Diamondbacks' refusal to pick up any part of the money owed Vazquez was believed to be a deal breaker for some teams. The Diamondbacks received $9 million from the Yankees to help offset Vazquez's contract when they acquired him last year.

 

Arizona also bolstered its bullpen a bit on Tuesday when they signed free agent pitcher Jason Grimsley to a one-year contract. The deal is contingent on Grimsley, who pitched for the Orioles last season, passing a physical. "He's a guy that has a lot of experience, has a tough mindset and is a ground-ball pitcher, which fits well in our ballpark," Byrnes said. The 38-year-old had Tommy John surgery in October of 2004 and was out of action until mid-July of last season. Grimsley also was on the disabled list in August with a strained left Achilles' tendon. He did, though, pitch well down the stretch, compiling a 1.23 ERA in eight September outings.

 

Overall, in 22 games for the Orioles, he was 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA. The Diamondbacks have been looking for a veteran in their bullpen to fill the setup role that Tim Worrell did so well in September of last year. The D-Backs had wanted to bring Worrell back, but he recently signed a two-year contract with the Giants. Grimsley has pitched parts of 14 seasons in the big leagues, going 41-56 with a 4.76 ERA in 533 lifetime games. From 2001-2004 he appeared in an American League-best 292 games.

[Cityofchampions33]

Just another arm to an already stacked rotation, great deal for them, at leastfor now. Can't wait to his face in Fenway again. Hey RedSoxRooter, post that thing with Damon when he hit the granny off him.

[ksushi]

Chris Young is an impressive prospect, but I like this deal for the ChiSox as well for at least the next few seasons. If Young turns out to be a 30/30 guy in the bigs, its still a good deal if the Sox win a world series in the mean time. This rotation is filthy if Jon Garland can repeat his 05 season.

[ORS]

I thought McCarthy pitched well enough to earn a rotation spot last year. Oh well, looks like he'll be the spot starter and long relief man again. Good move for the CWS in the short term, good move for the D-Backs in the long term.

[ksushi]

Wouldn't McCarthy be their five? Buehrle, Garland, Garcia, Vazquez and McCarthy. Or am I missing somebody? I probably am.

[ORS]

Contreras

[ksushi]

I was missing somebody. Wow, what a rotation. I think contreras really has his feet underneath him now too, wow. Jesus.

 

Just when I thought the A's had the best rotation...

[He Hate Me]

am I the only one who sees this team going on a Yankees-like run from the late 90's? I dont see any weaknesses in that team at all.

[BoSox84]

I like this trade, but I think the Tome-Rowand was a dumb one for the Sox. Thome is good but is he going to be healthy? They have a great rotation but i dont know about their offense.

[thee sox]

Just another arm to an already stacked rotation, great deal for them, at leastfor now. Can't wait to his face in Fenway again. Hey RedSoxRooter, post that thing with Damon when he hit the granny off him.

 

Sort of like what you guys were excited about in Contreras?

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Ozzie and Don Cooper cannot turn this guy around and put him back in the position he was in early in his career. We'll see, though.

[thee sox]

I like this trade, but I think the Tome-Rowand was a dumb one for the Sox. Thome is good but is he going to be healthy? They have a great rotation but i dont know about their offense.

 

It's a chance you have to take sometimes. IF Thome is healthy, our offense is immensely improved over Everett. Thome-Konerko-Dye creates one of the best 3-4-5 in MLB. Not only that, but we added Mackowiak for literally nothing in Marte. He's a huge improvement over our old super utility guy in Blum. Their offense is improved from last year, the pitching is back...we'll be fine.

[Beckett95]

Buehrle

Garland

Contreras

Garcia

Vasquez

 

by far the best rotation in baseball

[ksushi]

I do think the white sox are close to going on a late 90's yankee caliber run. I do see the upside in the thome trade, but what made the yankees so good year after year was youth. I think trading Chris Young after trading Rowand makes no sense unless they have some center field prospect I'm unaware of. First, I think rowand is the hard nosed paul oniell esque player that could add some guts to this potential black and white machine.

 

Thats one bad move, trading Chris Young away made no sense, even if you can justify dealing rowand. I think this team is armed well enough to make a serious push for the world series this season, but what happens after that is unclear right now.

 

Mackowiac is a huge addition and so is vazquez, but they are short sighted additions. Mackowiac doesn't help you three years from now, although he is huge down the road. El Duque was big for the in the post season too.

 

I dont think i got across what I wanted to, but either way I have to go do school work. Point of this post? The White Sox are crazy good, this year, and probably will be very competitive for years to come, but so will other teams. Dynasty? Not quite. Good team? Absolutley.

[BoSox84]

I think their top OF prospect is Brian Anderson, though his numbers when he was up in the majors leave alot to be desired

 

.176 2 HR's 3 RBI's

[ORS]

I think their top OF prospect is Brian Anderson, though his numbers when he was up in the majors leave alot to be desired

 

.176 2 HR's 3 RBI's

Rate stats aren't very useful when they are taken over a small sample size. Anderson only had 34 ABs in his first season of MLB experience. I think you need to look at a sample of at least 150-200 AB for a rate stat to be useful.

 

Sort of like what you guys were excited about in Contreras?

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Ozzie and Don Cooper cannot turn this guy around and put him back in the position he was in early in his career. We'll see, though.

Cooper is a good pitching coach, but if some speculation is correct, he'll need to start going to Med School to turn around Vazquez's career. Apparently, some believe that Vazquez was overused as an Expo's prospect and young pitcher and that his arm is worn out. The sudden rise in the HR/9 rate in '04 could have been attributed to the league switch, but when he maintained it after switching back, it gives these claims some credence.

 

The more I consider this trade, the more I question it from the CWS perspective. Vazquez is an upgrade over El Duque, but at what cost? They went from paying $4.5M to paying $11.5M for their #5 starter (and blocked a prospect who could have done the job for the league minimum). They lost a position prospect who could be better than the prospect one rung higher up the ladder. And they did all this for a pitcher with a declining K and HR rates. The really crazy part is brining a pitcher who is more prone to giving up the long ball into US Cellular Field, one of the most friendly parks to HR hitters.

[MC Hammer]

Not only that, but we added Mackowiak for literally nothing in Marte. He's a huge improvement over our old super utility guy in Blum.

Mackowiak is a great utility man. I don't think you can count on him on a daily basis, but he'll get the job done when he's called on. 35 errors in 619 career games playing 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, RF, CF in his career with the bucs.

[thee sox]

I think their top OF prospect is Brian Anderson, though his numbers when he was up in the majors leave alot to be desired

 

.176 2 HR's 3 RBI's

 

Like someone said before, 34 AB's doesn't show much about ability. Those 2 homeruns were in the same game off the young stud Felix Hernandez.

 

They also have Ryan Sweeney and Jerry Owens waiting in the wings. It's actually supposed to be either Owens or Anderson starting next year. No, they may not be what Young could be...but what Young could be is a bust. I'm not saying he is going to be a bust, but if your going to say we lost a guy that is going to be awesome, you can also say at the same time that he could be nothing at all.

[jimmycarter05]

Heck I'd trade Garnland or Conteras for great minor league talent and use McCarthy to fill up the spot that's gone

[RedSoxRooter]

Hey RedSoxRooter, post that thing with Damon when he hit the granny off him.

 

Ok.

 

http://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/talksox/WWJD2.gif

[26 to 6]

Ok.

 

http://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/talksox/WWJD2.gif

I hate seeing that

makes me cry

[He Hate Me]

the whole time I watched that, I was just thinking Johnny Bleeping Damon???

[bighurt]

They are putting the pressure on the agents for Contreras and Garland. Both of them (I believe) are up for arbitration. One of them will likely be signed, one will be dealt (likely). McCarthy will get the open spot. From everything I hear in Chicago, it sounds like Garland wants to try free agency, so maybe he'll get shipped out. Mackowiak will be this year's Geoff Blum, except with a better bat. He'll be the guy that plays when they want to rest virtually anybody, so he'll probably play 120 games this year. I've heard a rumor that they may package whoever doesn't sign (Garland / Contreras) and Uribe for Tejada from Baltimore. If they pull that off, then they've got Tejada, Thome, Konerko, Dye in the same lineup, and Brian Anderson can get acclimated to major league pitching with no pressure. Just catch the ball in centerfield.

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

I wouldn't get too excited about assuming Garland is going to stick around...I heard he was on the trading block even before they aquired Vasquez, and now that they got him, Vasquez will probably inherit Garland's spot in the rotation. As to where he'll go and what they'll get in return...I have no idea...

 

but I can tell you that a rumor of trading for Tejada is just that...speculation likely from enthusiastic local fans/media since other media reports indicate Tejada is ONLY leaving in a nearly one-sided blockbuster deal where the Orioles get 4 - 5 players including top tier prospects, an all-star caliber player and above average every day players. No offense, but Garland's 1 good breakout year does not come close to the body of work of Manny Ramirez's career stats, and yet he's not considered enough for Tejada.