Amazingly, Christian Vazquez Is Among This Front Office's Boldest Gambles

[Nick Nelson]

By almost any standard other than the Minnesota Twins and their current front office, the newly minted three-year contract for catcher Christian Vázquez would not be all that significant or noteworthy.

As it happens, their reported commitment of $30 million ranks as the third-largest for a free agent in six years since this front office took over.

Image courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

 

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine moved quickly after taking the reins in 2016, signing catcher Jason Castro to a three-year, $24.5 million contract as their first move. It would be the new regime's largest commitment to a free agent until 2020, when they made waves by signing third baseman Josh Donaldson for four years and $92 million.

An audacious move coming off a breakthrough season. Donaldson's deal nearly doubled the franchise record-holder for biggest free agent contract: Ervin Santana for four years and $52 million, almost eight years ago to the day (12/14/14).

Donaldson's two-year tenure with the Twins was unfulfilling, and the team was happy to move on when they unloaded his remaining contract to New York this past February. They used the newfound payroll space to make an even bigger splash: signing Carlos Correa to a three-year, $105 million stunner. He opted out of that deal a few weeks ago, as expected.

Which brings us to this week, where the Twins have agreed to terms with Christian Vazquez on a three-year deal worth $30 million over three years. 

With that, we've covered all of the biggest free agent commitments ever from this front office: Vazquez (#3) nests behind Correa (#1) and Donaldson (#2) as the heftiest contract in six offseasons, and – along with Castro – the only deals spanning three or more years.

There are a few ways to react to this. The first, of course is: wow, that really puts the Twins' aversion to free agent spending in context. Their biggest splurges under this regime have been two solid yet unspectacular catchers, and two superstar infielders, whose contracts more or less melded into one. (Twins basically turned the last $52 million owed to Donaldson into $35 million for Correa.)

Castro is, thus far, the only one of these players who actually played out at least three years of his contract as a Twin. Vázquez will presumably join him, bridging us to the other reaction: the front office must REALLY like Christian Vázquez. 

Clearly they are deeply uncomfortable with long-term contracts, especially for aging players. If they wanted to, the Twins could have certainly bided their time to wait out the remaining trade market, or turned their attention to another free agent around the middle tier. They passed up the opportunity to pursue a (likely cheaper) true platoon partner for Ryan Jeffers, such as Omar Narváez or Tucker Barnhardt, in order to aggressively acquire Vázquez – who was reportedly their #1 free agent catching target from the start.

What do they like so much about the 32-year-old to make such a (relatively) big leap? Vázquez has a number of appealing qualities, one of which is pitch-framing – particularly high in the zone) – as Lucas Seehafer laid out in detail. There's also his relatively neutral platoon split, his strong throwing arm, and his reputed clubhouse presence.

Beyond that, the Twins' willingness to pay a real premium for the backstop comes down to two core things: safety and experience.

SAFETY

This is the biggest factor without question, in my mind. Coming into this offseason, the catcher position was a glaring hole on an otherwise structurally sound roster. Dan Hayes writes in The Athletic that the team was "desperate to find a catcher in free agency." 

Vázquez has had an up-and-down career, with occasional solid offensive bursts counterbalanced by long unproductive stretches ... but he's been serviceable at worst. Even when his bat is amiss, he remains a steady defensive player and durable mainstay. 

He might arguably lack the upside of a Zunino or Narváez, but he's got a higher and sturdier floor. And that's what this move does: complete the front office's floor-raising setup for whatever is next. 

EXPERIENCE

The Astros acquired Vázquez from Boston at the deadline this year, valuing him as a seasoned vet who could contribute during the stretch and into the playoffs. He played 41 games for Houston in August, September, and October, aiding their successful pursuit of a World Series championship. It was the second ring for Vázquez, who won another in Boston in 2018 and took part in a deep run with the Red Sox in 2021.

For a Twins organization that was devoid of ANY meaningful big-league catching experience beyond Jeffers' 600 plate appearances ... it's easy to see why this track record would be very appealing.

Now, the big remaining question is whether this front office is going to add another top contract to its modest historical ledger. Amazingly, Vázquez's $30 million contract has now entered their top three -- and the top six in franchise history, adding in Santana and Ricky Nolasco. If Vázquez remains on either of those lists by the time the offseason is over, it'll be hard to see how this winter would be viewed as a success.

 

 

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[Brandon]

Hopefully we sign Evoldi and Correa and maybe a reliever.  If we did that we might have to trade Jepler for payroll space and hope that Killeroff and Larnarch are good in both RF and LF.

[Mike Sixel]

I don't think only looking at FA deals is a good measure of risk taking....but I get your point.

[weitz41]

Vázquez fits what the FO talks about from the catcher position the best imo of all the free agent catchers. 3 for 30 is reasonable and if there was a lot of compitation involved probably necessary to get it done. He provided 2.1 WAR last season. If that continues its a bargain at 10 mil per.

There were trades that may have been an even better fit, but the recourses needed for those are much harder to replace.

Also, I'd like to point out that as the years have gone on, they have been spending more aggressively. Let's hope that continues.

[awmonahan]

Happy to see a move for a fundamentally sound player. The floor is improving, with Vazquez and Farmer. But we need Correa to actually move this team's ceiling upward. 

[h2oface]

SPEND THAT POHLAD MONEY!! DON'T STOP NOW!!!!!!

PITCHING PITCHING PITCHING!!!!

[h2oface]

8 hours ago, Brandon said:

Hopefully we sign Evoldi and Correa and maybe a reliever.  If we did that we might have to trade Jepler for payroll space and hope that Killeroff and Larnarch are good in both RF and LF.

Kirilloff should just offically change his name to Killeroff and make it more "twinslike" and easier for the fans.

[DocBauer]

Narvaez, despite a couple bad years, has a better career quad slash line and more power. His LH bat would be nice to have for balance sake. I would have been happy to have him.

But the more I've read, heard, and thought about this I'm very pleased. Vazquez is still an average to slightly better than average bat for a catcher. So while he's still a #8-9 hitter, he's by no means bad at all. But what's way more important is his experience, leadership, defense, and clubhouse presence.

Forgetting Correa for a moment, the Twins have $ to spend and need to spend it. And this was a serious need that needed to be addressed and was done so in a solid fashion. But they can't stop now. This team still needs a quality RH bat to be added, even with a possible Correa signing. Even more so if they don't. 

I understand calls for a SP and RP, and I get that. But when you look at the roster, a RH bat in the OF has been a glaring problem for years now. They need balance and depth and options. The various times of offensive futility in 2022 show that. They should, IMO, jump on someone like Wil Myers immediately for something, hopefully, around $10-12M for 2-3yrs. He fits the need very well. And you can't stop adding while waiting for Correa. 

Happy as can be with Vazquez. But don't stop adding now FO. You still have $ and need.

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, Brandon said:

Hopefully we sign Evoldi and Correa and maybe a reliever.  If we did that we might have to trade Jepler for payroll space and hope that Killeroff and Larnarch are good in both RF and LF.

I think the Twins are definitely out on Rodon if Correa signs. Considering "rumors" of 6-7yrs and $180-200M for Rodon, the Twins might be out even without Correa in the fold.

The Twins DON'T need to sign some back end SP at this point, thankfully. My "hunch meter" says the FO likes their existing rotation and expect better health with a normal ST, and feel depth is finally here. And if they want to add, a trade is the best option as it won't be someone with a $20-30M per deal, hence why they've passed up other options.

So far, as probably expected, bullpen arms are just sitting there. And there might be value in the "patience" mode the FO likes. 

But I'm interested in Eovaldi if he's sitting there in a couple of weeks. He's not great by any means, and his career numbers reflect that. But when healthy he's flashed. If he comes cheap, I'd be interested in adding him for what he CAN do when healthy and right. But other than cheap and looking for some kind of 1yr or 1+1 deal, I don't think I see a fit. I think the FO looks at the trade route to add, if they add at all.

[KirbyDome89]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I don't think only looking at FA deals is a good measure of risk taking....but I get your point.

Yeah I think at least 4-5 pitching acquisitions over the last few years would all slot above the aforementioned position players if we're taking about true risk. 

[rv78]

Yes it is sad that a 3/30 deal is their #3 biggest FA deal. And when you consider that they basically flipped the #2 Donaldson deal for their #1 Correa deal and it lasted 1 whole season, that is really pathetic. And yet they think (St Peter) we as fans are suppose to go out and support this team after they have continually taken left-overs. Target Field was built to help add revenue so they could become active players in the FA market. When is that going to happen?

[HerbieFan]

Besides all of the obvious reasons to like the Vazquez addition, here's another:  Adding him didn't cost them any prospects.  B/c they've been unable, to this point, to develop any top(ish) of the rotation starters, they've had to deal good prospects for guys like Maeda, Gray, Mahle and Lopez for the bullpen.  Now....get Correa.

[dxpavelka]

7 hours ago, Brandon said:

Hopefully we sign Evoldi and Correa and maybe a reliever.  If we did that we might have to trade Jepler for payroll space and hope that Killeroff and Larnarch are good in both RF and LF.

My hope is that Kirilloff & Larnach are still healthy by Patriots Day.

[TwinsDr2021]

Yea, the Twins signed a 32 year old platoon catcher, call me underwhelmed. Is he a nice piece to he puzzle? yes absolutely, without anybody else added does he change the current team, nope.

[Karbo]

I like the Vazquez signing. Big improvement over what we had last year.

[DJL44]

This tells me the Twins have been pretty good at developing outfielders and haven't needed to sign a free agent.

[DJL44]

12 hours ago, DocBauer said:

They should, IMO, jump on someone like Wil Myers immediately for something, hopefully, around $10-12M for 2-3yrs. He fits the need very well. And you can't stop adding while waiting for Correa. 

Wil Myers is marginally better at hitting lefties than Kyle Garlick. .815 OPS for Myers, .805 OPS for Garlick in 2022.

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Wil Myers is marginally better at hitting lefties than Kyle Garlick. .815 OPS for Myers, .805 OPS for Garlick in 2022.

Yes, but Myers isn't helpless against righties and can play in a broader context. He's a more reliable option.

[DocBauer]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Wil Myers is marginally better at hitting lefties than Kyle Garlick. .815 OPS for Myers, .805 OPS for Garlick in 2022.

However, I believe Myers hits RH's better. He's also better defensively and it sure appears to be healthier than Garlick year to year. 

[DJL44]

The only pitcher this front office has given a long-term contract to is Randy Dobnak.

[USAFChief]

Vasquez was an overpay, made necessary by the front office's putting themselves in the position of needing him really, really badly. They HAD to basically give Vasquez way more than he was worth.

[DJL44]

6 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Vasquez was an overpay, made necessary by the front office's putting themselves in the position of needing him really, really badly. They HAD to basically give Vasquez way more than he was worth.

Not by much though. Zunino got $6M for this season. Oh no, they spent an extra $5M on the roster. They won't win the wins per dollar pennant this year.

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Not by much though. Zunino got $6M for this season. Oh no, they spent an extra $5M on the roster. They won't win the wins per dollar pennant this year.

Pretty sure you missed his point by the distance from the earth to the sun.

[rv78]

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Vasquez was an overpay, made necessary by the front office's putting themselves in the position of needing him really, really badly. They HAD to basically give Vasquez way more than he was worth.

It is true they traded away Garver and Rortvedt and then with only having Sanchez and Leon for 1 season it put them in a bind, but they didn't HAVE to go get Vazquez. They could have taken the cheaper route like they normally do and sign a couple of has-been left-overs like Sanchez and Leon. I'll give them credit for at least getting someone with more value than those two.