Now that Javier Vazquez trade is going to get interesting.
Chris Young, the phenom center fielder Kenny Williams dealt to get the disappointing Vazquez,
hit his first career home run today. With Shawn Green now playing for the Mets, Young will get plenty of reps from now until the end of the season.
I was hoping Young wouldn't be heard from until 2007. Now, if the Diamondbacks' and White Sox's seasons both end on Oct. 1, chances are Javy and Kenny are going to start feeling the heat.
While I cringed when I saw Young was dealt, I understood the Vazquez acquisition. The Sox don't like getting in bidding wars for arms, and with contracts expiring for Jon Garland and Jose Contreras, Kenny needed to raise his leverage.
He did exactly that, but it backfired a little bit. Garland and Contreras both signed three-year deals, and both are pitching better than Vazquez. With Brandon McCarthy looking like he could also post a 5.00 ERA if he had to step into the rotation, now the Vazquez deal looks like an overreaction. That's not even considering that the Sox could use a right-handed true fourth outfielder.
The good news is that Kenny may be able to salvage the deal some when it comes time to toss out throw away wash themselves clean of trade Freddy Garcia, which the
Sun-Times' Joe Cowley says is imminent.
He'll be in a similar situation as Arizona GM Josh Byrnes was when he shopped Vazquez last offseason. Vazquez was an underperforming pitcher with a big contract, which was better than Freddy's (not a rental) and worse (more expensive) at the same time.
If Kenny can drum up the right market, he might be able to deal Garcia for a quality prospect, be it an arm or a bat. Garcia has less noteworthy stuff than Vazquez, but if he can get a clean bill of a health and a few miles per hour back on his fastball, he might be worth a gamble for a lot of teams needing "veteran presence," given his track record. Garcia has excelled in some big situations where Javy has tanked.
A top-tier prospect won't heal the pain from watching Young turn into a quality major leaguer, which is likely though not certain. However, at least by acquiring Vazquez, he's created the possibility of a safety net with the ability to try for another prospect. If he plays his cards right, he'll have only lost a couple years, and not a solid talent altogether.