Let's Not Overlook the Value of Christian Vázquez

[Nick Nelson]

The veteran catcher sure seems to be on the chopping block as the Twins look to cut payroll. Would trading Christian Vázquez for salary relief be a short-sighted move?

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

On its face, the idea of trading a backup catcher who makes $10 million seems like a pretty logical method of lowering payroll without substantially downgrading the team. Especially when that catcher is coming off a truly hideous offensive season where the starter in front of him emerged as one of the game's best backstops.

And so it comes as no surprise the Twins are said to be "aggressively" trying to move Christian Vázquez (among others) as next week's Winter Meetings approach. An uninspiring free agent class for catchers, headlined by Gary Sánchez, is helping create a market to shop Vázquez even coming off a 2023 campaign where he posted a sub-.600 OPS and ceded his starting job.

I'm not trying to say that losing Vázquez would be some sort of disaster, with Ryan Jeffers establishing himself as a true standout and Jair Camargo recently joining the 40-man roster. Vázquez had become so extraneous to the Twins by October that he didn't get a single postseason AB – although I'd argue this owed more to their belief in Jeffers than a lack of faith in Vázquez.

Things change from year to year. Just because Vázquez had a down year offensively doesn't mean he can't rebound and get back near the average-ish level that was his baseline the previous four years. And also, focusing on his bat does not tell the full story of what Vázquez provides by a longshot.

Most defensive metrics (including SDI) ranked the 33-year-old among the game's best catchers – far better than Jeffers. His presence should not be overlooked in assessing the team's remarkable pitching breakthrough, or overall run prevention prowess. Whether you're looking at blocking, framing, or throwing, Vázquez graded out extremely well.

Yes, $10 million for a backup catcher feels like a luxury. But it's better to look at the tandem of he and Jeffers as a combined cost of a bout $12.5 million, which is a very reasonable commitment to one of the most critical positions on the field. It's important to think about the insurance Vázquez provides for Jeffers, who has quickly become one of the franchise's most key assets.

Let us not forget what a priority it was for the Twins to go out and get a veteran catcher a year ago, and why. They targeted Vázquez and went out of their comfort zone by adding a third year to their offer for him, specifically because Jeffers had proven so unreliable from a health and production standpoint. 

One good season, as impressive as it was, does not eliminate these concerns for Jeffers. Looking ahead to 2024, one of the most glaring concerns for the Minnesota Twins is regression. The team would be leaving themselves with little protection behind the plate by subtracting the trusted veteran safety net that is Vázquez; another significant injury to Jeffers would leave the completely untested 24-year-old Camargo atop the catching depth chart.

Sure, you could say Vázquez is a luxury. But he doesn't seem like the kind of luxury that a team with World Series aspirations should be looking to part with – rather the kind they should be looking to add.

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[Cory Engelhardt]

100% agreed. 

[LewFordLives]

This article is spot on. Trading Vasquez would be one of the dumbest things they could do this off-season.

[Matthew Trueblood]

I also think we should stop conceptualizing him as a backup, right? It's pretty clear that the Twins view catcher as a position best shared fairly equitably, to keep everyone fresh. $10 million would be an insane amount to pay a backup to a 110-game catcher, but I'd bet they're eyeing more like a 90-72 or a 96-66 split of starts between their catchers next year. If the 72 or 66 is Jair Camargo.... I don't love that. Unless you got something other than financial relief by dealing Vázquez.

[LewFordLives]

Camargo will eventually get a chance to prove himself. There will be injuries.

[Hrbeks Divot]

I agree with the article and think Vazquez is worth his contract. The problem simply goes back to the team saying they plan to reduce payroll. If you don’t trade one of Vázquez, Kepler or Polanco where does the reduction come from? Farmer isn’t enough if we’re going to create enough space to add a #2-3 starter. We’re going to have to move multiple players. Tough decisions ahead.

[Riverbrian]

44 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

I also think we should stop conceptualizing him as a backup, right? 

Exactly

We have contributors who feel that Polanco should be moved because they think he is a backup. 

This article and others have labeled Vazquez as a 10 million dollar backup. 

In 2023... 49% of all AB's were handled by what other people define as backups. 

Since backup has very little to do with playing time because backups play a lot and have year after year.  

Let's be clear... what backup means. 

It means worse player. 

 

[rv78]

$15M on a part-time player that only hit .207 is hurting the team more than Vazquez.

[old nurse]

If a part time catcher makes the choices that makes the starting pitchers 0.25 war better they are worth their 10 million dollar contract. As much as people have tried to forget, one shouldn’t ever forget that Doumit scrunch the strike zone so much that Glen Perkins said he felt that he had to pitch to a strike zone the size of a postage stamp when Doumit was catching. 

[4twinsJA]

Agree with OP, Vasquez value is more on the defensive side. By all accounts FO is shopping Vasquez, but doubt if they will just give him away. Like Arraez trade, you have to give up something of value to get something of value. If FO can package Vasquez with others for #2 SP, would be all for it depending on others included. I will not be surprised if Vasquez still a Twin opening day.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Really spot on article. Frankly I am puzzled why Rocco failed to play Vasquez any, any during the Twins playoff games. In my opinion, by his 2023 defensive play and his handling of the pitchers, Vasquez had more than earned the right to start a game or 2 in the playoffs, especially against the Astros, his former team from the previous season.  He is a veteran leader, who was told, by Rocco's actions, that he was not good enough. And keep in mind, he does have 2 World Series rings. 

[Dman]

This isn't the year to shop Vasquez.  They need the level of defense he provides for the pitching staff.  It also allows us to see if Jeffers continues to play at the level he established last year and to make sure Camargo is ready for the next step.

2025 gets more interesting depending on if the Twins need to protect Cardenas, Winkel or Olivar in the Rule V draft.  If one or more of those players need to be added and Vasquez is still struggling at the plate it might make more sense to move him.

I still think Vasquez is an important part of this years team.  Camargo needs to be slowly brought along not depended on at that MLB level of a potential playoff team.  Depending on the return I think it would be a mistake to trade Vasquez at this time.

[Doctor Gast]

Thanks Nick for great & timely article. I have been venomously against trading Vazquez for all the reasons that you've stated above. But I'd like to add another one that people have so conviently forgotten, and that is Vazquez had the lion's share of facing RHPs at least to begin the season. Which could have kept Vazquez from really finding his groove from the start & helped Jeffers to find his. 

IMO sitting Vazquez during the PS, was more wanting Jeffers to have the spot light & prove to everyone that their betting the farm on Jeffers was warranted. IMO choosing Jeffers was not an inteligent decision, it was a bias & wrong one. Vazquez has a lot of post season experience at the highest level where a player like that shifts it to another gear & help the Twins further advance, Ryan was lost. The roles should have been switched but I'd give Jeffers some ABs to get his feet wet not in a situation where he'd drown. 

 

[HrbieFan]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

This article is spot on. Trading Vasquez would be one of the dumbest things they could do this off-season.

Only dumb if we don't get MLB ready talent. 

[jorgenswest]

Vazquez has value to the team. I would Vázquez if they can find a team to take all of his remaining contract and part with a marginal prospect. If they need to add dollars or take on a bad contract I would keep him.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Hrbeks Divot said:

The problem simply goes back to the team saying they plan to reduce payroll. If you don’t trade one of Vázquez, Kepler or Polanco where does the reduction come from? Farmer isn’t enough if we’re going to create enough space to add a #2-3 starter. We’re going to have to move multiple players. Tough decisions ahead.

Falvey didn't say the team would get better, just cheaper. That's the priority - lower the payroll. That means they will be giving up someone who has some value to the team in order to reduce the payroll. It is just a question of which player will be sent elsewhere.

[DJL44]

33 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Really spot on article. Frankly I am puzzled why Rocco failed to play Vasquez any, any during the Twins playoff games.

I'm not puzzled at all. They needed hitting pretty desperately and that is Jeffers, not Vazquez. There were also plenty of off-days in the playoff schedule to rest Jeffers.

[Trov]

I agree the price is high, and the bat is not been good, but I believe he helped the pitching staff even when he was not behind the plate for the game.  I would not sell him for pennies on the dollar, but if we can get a fair value return I would be open to it, but do not just look to dump the dump. 

[Blyleven2011]

1. Vazquez - 13.9

2. Correa - 5.0

3. Taylor - 4.9

4. Kepler - 2.1

5. Farmer - 1.9

6. Jeffers - 1.4

 

Vazquez is 8th of 98 MLB catchers ....

Even if Vazquez hits the same as 2023 in 2024 , he still is their best defensive catcher  ...

Sometimes coming to a new team it puts more pressure  on the player and they hit like s h i t  , I think Vazquez  hitting will improve for 2024  ...

Look at all these free agents that signed 10 year contracts and were awful the first year of their contract  until  they settled in with the team  ...

So get off Vazquez back , he'll be fine with his defense and working with the pitchers and his bat will improve ...

[ValleySpringsFan]

If Vasquez is traded, then presumably the Twins would immediately look for a cheap veteran catcher to sign as backup. In fact, I'd assume they are looking already. Who's available?

[mnfireman]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'm not puzzled at all. They needed hitting pretty desperately and that is Jeffers, not Vazquez. There were also plenty of off-days in the playoff schedule to rest Jeffers.

Jeffers was 2-19 (.105) in the play-offs this year, 2-24 (.083) for his over 8 play-off games in his career.

Vazquez is 23-92 (.250) over 31 play-off games in his career. 

Sometimes experience counts for something, but we won't know because Vazquez didn't even sniff an AB in this years play-offs.

[miracleb]

Valley is right.....they can find an "all defensive" catcher for 1-2M and will provide us the same production at the plate as we got out of Vazquez last year.

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, ValleySpringsFan said:

If Vasquez is traded, then presumably the Twins would immediately look for a cheap veteran catcher to sign as backup. In fact, I'd assume they are looking already. Who's available?

2024 MLB Free Agents Tracker | Spotrac

You can pay $3M for Jacob Stallings or Victor Caratini. They could go with a bat-first player like Knizer or Gary Sanchez but that's why they went out and got Vazquez in the first place.

[Johnny Ringo]

The intelligence of trading Vasquez (or anybody else) can only determined contextually. People like to paint the idea as "smart" or "dumb". If you have to eat a lot of his salary and get little in return, that's dumb. If you can move his contract and get something reasonable back, that's smart.

I have no idea which it is, but I would guess it's somewhere in the middle which is why it hasn't happened, yet but his name is still out there.  

[DJL44]

16 minutes ago, miracleb said:

Valley is right.....they can find an "all defensive" catcher for 1-2M and will provide us the same production at the plate as we got out of Vazquez last year.

You actually can't. Unless they grab Austin Hedges right now the best available "all defense" catchers who hit about as well as Vazquez (Stallings and Caratini) are about 10 runs worse than Vazquez defensively. They'll also cost $3-4M.

It will be hard to trade Vazquez while Hedges is still available as a free agent.

[tony&rodney]

Austin Hedges is also available. He doesn't hit a lick, except the very occasional home run. The Twins will almost certainly keep Vazquez and play him in 80 games for about 250 at bats.

The Twins are sitting around $120 million for payroll. They do not need to reduce that number. Thet probably have about $10 million to play with to add players. If a trade of Farmer, Polanco, Kepler, or Vazquez occurs that number available goes up. The Twins are not adding a top starting free agent pitcher even if they free up $35 million. 

[Otaknam]

The Twins are preparing us for downsizing their payroll because of an uncertain TV contract. Given that, I can see them trading Vazquez, Polanco, and Kepler and going with cheaper, more inexperienced options. Or maybe a cheap backup catcher. That would also save $30 million, some of which could be used to acquire another starting pitcher. 

[jmlease1]

I think Vazquez will bounce back at the plate somewhat (and I suspect other teams would agree with that) so with his superior defense he still has some value and certainly could be worth the $10M he's due for 2024. The real question on dealing him comes down to two things for me: how confident are you that Jeffers can stay healthy enough to catch 100+ games, and how ready do you think Camargo is to not only handle the position defensively, but also hold his own at the plate.

If the team feels strongly about Camargo's readiness to play in MLB (including handling full-time catching duties in case of an injury), then looking to move on from Vazquez is reasonable, especially if there's a decent deal out there. It would make it easier to hang on to Polanco, and they could add a catcher to hang out in AAA if injuries strike.

I suspect right now the Twins are pushing Farmer, Polanco, and Vazquez out there to see what kind of market there is as they look to cut some payroll and stabilize the rotation. Without knowing how highly they think of Camargo, it's hard to know who serious they are about moving Vazquez. It's also hard to know what the market is for him: he was so awful on offense last season that even with his defense if he doesn't bounce back he's worth very little, and certainly not $10M.

Camargo has a solid reputation behind the plate and he's been a quality bat at multiple levels, so last season at AAA isn't just an International League-fueled fluke. It's an interesting question.

[farmerguychris]

I still think that we need our assets spent in other areas.  We know we'll need more than 5 pitchers.  I'd include Vazquez in trade conversations, but in return something I'll be seeking is a 'normal' back up level catcher who has minor league options still available.  Vazquez is a borderline starter, and Carmago appears ready to be the back up now in the majors.  I'm afraid $10M is just too much when we need to spend that money elsewhere.  

[Brandon]

If the Twins have to trade Polanco, Vázquez and Farmer to free up the cash to trade for a starter it may make more sense to sign a Keuchel or Odorizzi for depth//5th starter and roll with what we have.  Though I suspect they also want to sign a CF too

I guess trading Vázquez helps lower payroll and probably more importantly lowers 2025 commitments.  A low cost backup with Camargo waiting in AAA  and Jeffers starting 100 games +-10 will not be a huge drop off except a downgrade on defense.  Savings around 8-9 million per season if they can trade the whole contract.  
I’m of the opinion Vázquez will hit in the .240-.260 range next season with similar power and an OPS near but below .700. If trading Vázquez allows us to keep others I’m on board.  If we have to trade others to creating more holes…. I guess it comes down to which holes would you prefer.  A downgraded rotation and CF or downgraded C, IF depth, and…