Twins Trade Candidate Breakdown: Christian Vázquez

[Brandon Glick]

The veteran catcher and his $10-million salary could be headed out the door this offseason. What does that mean for him and the Twins?

Christian Vázquez was signed during the 2022-23 offseason to a three-year, $30-million contract, which looked like a solid value for a backstop coming off a season in which he hit .274/.315/.399 and was worth 2.1 WAR. Notably, he was brilliant with the Red Sox in the first half of the season (.759 OPS, elite defensive metrics) before falling off after being dealt to Houston at the trade deadline (.585 OPS, middling performance behind the plate).

Nevertheless, he was one of the best catchers on the market, and the Twins made a bet that his sluggish second half in 2022 was an aberration, rather than an omen for what was to come. They gave him one of just three multi-year deals handed out to catchers that winter (Willson Contreras and Yan Gomes being the others), and handed him the starting job out of spring training in 2023.

From there, Vázquez has done the opposite of “running away with” the starting gig, splitting playing time perfectly evenly with Ryan Jeffers in the latter half of 2023 and throughout this year. After posting a -0.5 WAR combined over the past two seasons, he finds himself on the trade block once again.

The Case For Trading Christian Vázquez
Unlike some of the other, more productive players in this series, there aren’t a whole lot of reasons as to why the Twins should want to keep Vázquez. Jeffers, despite some calls to trade him, too, is younger, more productive, and has two years of team control remaining. Vázquez can be a valuable defensive catcher, which is an all-important skill for a backup backstop, but at his $10 million price tag, he just isn’t worth the cheddar for the penny-pinching Twins.

It’s true that Minnesota simply won’t get a lot for Vázquez—this may just end up being a pure salary dump. Nevertheless, the catching market is drier than the Sahara this winter, and Vázquez was well-regarded around the game just a few years ago. With Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Hedges already off the free-agent board, that leaves Kyle Higashioka, who will be 35 years old on Opening Day, and Danny Jansen (.658 OPS in 2024) as the options on the market. Behind them is… Gary Sánchez? Yasmani Grandal (he still plays baseball?)? Suffice to say, it’s a seller's market for catchers, even if that catcher is Christian Vázquez.

Of course, any prospective partner would need to have two things to complete this swap with Minnesota: money and a need for a defensive-minded catcher. Vázquez is both expensive and still solid with the glove, mostly thanks to his 84th percentile skill as a framer. He also possesses above-average pop times and blocked ball rates, giving him the kind of profile that most young catchers don’t have.

 

Looking at similar trades from the past, it’s easy to see that the Twins won’t make out like bandits in any potential Vázquez deal. Six years ago, the Cleveland Guardians traded a 31-year-old Gomes to the Washington Nationals for Jefry Rodriguez, Daniel Johnson, and a player to be named later (Andruw Monasterio). There’s a reason you haven’t heard those names since.

If you’re willing to go further back, in 2010, the San Francisco Giants traded multi-time Gold Glove winner Bengie Molina (at the trade deadline) for Michael Main and Chris Ray. His brother, José Molina, was traded from the Angels to the Yankees in 2007 for Jeff Kennard. More recently, in 2022, Christian Bethancourt was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays (from the Athletics) for Christian Fernandez and Cal Stevenson.

Are you starting to get the picture? Even if the Twins do convince a trade partner to part with a prospect or two, they’re going to be nothing more than blind dart throws. Still, the salary relief that will come from offloading Vázquez—as well as any potential developmental benefits with Jeffers taking over full-time behind the plate—will be worth it.

Potential Trade Partners
The Chicago Cubs stand as perhaps the most obvious suitor for Vázquez, what with their need for a veteran partner for Miguel Amaya and the fact they were very likely the runner-up for Vázquez back in ‘22. They have plenty of payroll space to accommodate him, though the Twins could swallow some extra salary to get at a high-upside flier in the Cubbies’ loaded farm system.

The San Diego Padres, who could lose Higashioka in free agency as they focus on retaining players like Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim, would also make sense as a destination for a veteran receiver on a one-year deal. Their pitching staff is loaded with experienced pitchers, including Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease, each of whom would probably prefer to work with an established catcher with proven defensive bona fides. Unlike the Cubs, the Padres don’t have ample room to take on Vázquez, so the Twins would have to be comfortable eating a large portion of his contract.

Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Rays (looking for an upgrade over Ben Rortvedt), Boston Red Sox (in need of a backup for Connor Wong, drafted Vázquez in 2008), and Chicago White Sox (in need of literally everything) all could call Derek Falvey with an offer. However, each of those teams is facing some fundamental issue—be it payroll concerns, bigger roster needs, or general competitive spirit—that could hamper their interest.

Of course, a mystery team could always enter the mix, but unless Minnesota is really willing to eat a majority chunk of Vázquez’s salary in 2025, the list of suitors will remain limited.

Conclusion
Christian Vázquez has failed to live up to the size and scope of the contract he signed a few years back, and the emergence of Jeffers gives the Twins another option as they shop around the veteran in an attempt to slash payroll this offseason.

Vázquez remains a solidly above-average defensive catcher, which will matter to teams who invest heavily in their run-prevention units like the Cubs, though his miserable, declining bat will keep the Twins from acquiring anything other than a low-level flier in a trade. The best-case scenario for Minnesota is probably having to only eat $1-2 million of Vázquez’s salary next year.

Still, enough teams are in need of a catcher that someone should present a fair offer, once they strike out on signing Higashioka or Jansen in free agency. It won’t do much to help the roster, but a trade of Vázquez should help the Twins free up some valuable space on the payroll.

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[DJL44]

They can't trade him unless they acquire a young catcher to take his place. Saving $10M on Vazquez only to spend $7M of it on Danny Jansen is just moving deck chairs around.

[bean5302]

Christian Vazquez $10MM AAV. 2024 = +0.8 fWAR, -0.2 bWAR

Travis d'Arnaud $6MM AAV. 2024 =  +1.8 fWAR, +1.1 bWAR
Austin Hedges $4MM AAV. 2024 = +0.4 fWAR, -0.6 bWAR

Yasmani Grandal FA. 2024 = +1.4 fWAR, +0.6 bWAR
James McCann FA. 2024 = +0.2 fWAR, +0.8 bWAR
Danny Jensen FA. 2024 = +0.5 fWAR, +0.7 bWAR
Gary Sanchez FA. 2024 = +0.3 fWAR, +0.2 bWAR (2023 = +1.6 fWAR, +1.7 bWAR)
Luke Maile FA. 2024 was terrible in 154 PA. 2023 = +0.4 fWAR, +0.9 bWAR

The thing about Vazquez is he's not better than a number of other options, and the free agents who have signed are making half as much. Drier than the Sahara (in terms of value) is applicable to Vazquez himself. The guys being dismissed in this article (Grandal and Sanchez) are substantially better than Vazquez.

Vazquez is a bad MLB player with a sizable salary. He does provide some floor in that he's solid defensively and durable, but I think it's going to cost the Twins eating at least $5MM of his salary or a significant prospect to move him. Not sure it makes sense unless the Twins are investing in a long term replacement on their roster.

[Doctor Gast]

I agree that the Twins paid too much for Vazquez in FA but that's what to be expected. Twins shouldn't have to suffer because of it. Vazquez was not acquired for his bat, he was acquired to pick up the pieces after '22 Jeffers crashed & burned after being depended upon to take over primary catcher duties. And that is what he has done. He has stabilized the catching, and the pitching & is a leader. Jeffers isn't a primary catcher & I have doubts that he can maintain equal tandem catching throughout the year. Adjusting to a new team, especially for a serious catcher is something very difficult. The main focus is to zone in on & establishing relationships with the pitchers, which takes a lot of time & effort. It's not surprising that Vazquez's hitting had taken a back seat. This year his hitting has gotten progressively better & that needs to be taken into consideration,.

There has been a "Fire Sale" sign on Vazquez's back, expect other FOs to offer ridiculous offers. IMO a bad lotto ticket plus $5M to boot.  And to try to avoid another '22, they pick up an inferior expensive FA, but to no avail, unless you pick up a catcher at least Vazquez's defensive caliber, "22 will happen all over again. For a team that confesses that it's in a contending mode that is totally unacceptable.

I consider Vazquez as part of the core, To continue on the same path of chipping away at the core to afford players we don't need will not bring us to the destination we desire. We desperately need a very good young  MLB-ready catcher for today & the future. Vazquez's mentoring provides the best avenue to help develop that catcher. After this season Vazquez will be gone with his $10M salary but he'll at least will help set a foundation for our prime position catcher,

[chpettit19]

The contract didn't look like solid value when it was signed. It was pretty universally seen as an overpay because he didn't want to come to MN but couldn't get anyone to give him three years so came here reluctantly because the Twins were the only team willing to go 3 years, 10 mil per for him when nobody else would. It was a questionable contract from the jump, it just turned out to go way worse than expected way quicker.

If the Twins can clear the full 10 mil and sign any of the other nobody veteran catchers for half the cost they should do it. It's not overly useful, but when you're looking for every last dollar you can get for payroll may as well save 3-5 mil here. But the second you have to eat salary and don't have a minimum salary catcher to take his place just keep Vazquez for his continuity with the pitching staff. And I'm definitely not giving up a real prospect to get rid of Vazquez because they got desperate in and went 3 years and the Pohlads got cheap now.

[Vanimal46]

If Vazquez had 2 more years left on his contract I would have more urgency to tack on a prospect just to dump the salary. But since he’s in the final year of the deal I don’t feel the urgency.

I can’t see a team taking on an overpaid veteran unless we are also receiving an overpaid veteran in return. 

[Blyleven2011]

I personally think Vasquez has earned his contract  in 2024 , 2023 his defense was good , but hitting wasn't,, 

I'll take Vazquez defense and leadership over jeffers any day  , hitting is a plus for a catcher  and there are not that many good hitting catchers  , both have been streaky in hitting with jeffers being alittle better  ....

Me ,personally  I would trade jeffers  with our AAA  catcher as backup ĥ

[bean5302]

54 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

...I consider Vazquez as part of the core, To continue on the same path of chipping away at the core to afford players we don't need will not bring us to the destination we desire. We desperately need a very good young  MLB-ready catcher for today & the future. Vazquez's mentoring provides the best avenue to help develop that catcher. After this season Vazquez will be gone with his $10M salary but he'll at least will help set a foundation for our prime position catcher,

I have never subscribed to the "mentor" concept. It's always felt as some excuse to keep a non-quantifiable value player people personally like on the roster. Vazquez isn't any better than Jeffers at controlling the run game or game calling or even catcher framing as recently as 2022. Vazquez has a different receiving position than Jeffers and he's much shorter than Jeffers (or likely any other catcher replacing him). Vazquez can't mentor players to be 5'8" tall so they get more strike calls in certain areas, and the Twins had Jeffers use a different spot technique in the hopes of getting more strikes.

The techniques Vazquez uses are going to be overruled by the Twins' coaching staff and front office's preferences and the new catchers 3-5 years of development. Joe Mauer didn't teach Drew Butera how to hit or Josmil Pinto how to catch.

[Doctor Gast]

40 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I have never subscribed to the "mentor" concept. It's always felt as some excuse to keep a non-quantifiable value player people personally like on the roster. Vazquez isn't any better than Jeffers at controlling the run game or game calling or even catcher framing as recently as 2022. Vazquez has a different receiving position than Jeffers and he's much shorter than Jeffers (or likely any other catcher replacing him). Vazquez can't mentor players to be 5'8" tall so they get more strike calls in certain areas, and the Twins had Jeffers use a different spot technique in the hopes of getting more strikes.

The techniques Vazquez uses are going to be overruled by the Twins' coaching staff and front office's preferences and the new catchers 3-5 years of development. Joe Mauer didn't teach Drew Butera how to hit or Josmil Pinto how to catch.

I don't care if you subscribe to mentoring or not. Serious young players seek out more experienced players who have played the game, if they don't they are at a disadvantage. Yes, there are some not-so-good mentors & there are some bad mentees who have no potential & you can't make them into superstars. I'm not talking about Pinto-type young catchers, I'm talking about young catchers with real potential that has a strong desire to achieve,

When listening to Jeffers, a lot of his changes in catching has came on his own not help from coaching.

[Clear Lake Twinsfan]

Instead of including a prospect or eating a portion of his salary, I wonder if San Diego would take Vazquez and his full $10 million salary if we included some International Pool money to help them sign Roki Sasaki when he gets posted.  If we include say $2.5 million of our pool in the deal, we don't actually send that money to San Diego, but it allows San Diego to spend $2.5 million more of their own money to sign Sasaki.  We'd still probably only net a flyer type of prospect in the deal, and we'd have that much less to spend on International free agents this year, but we would free up the entire $10 million of Vazquez' salary.  

[Brandon]

The thing is Vazquez is on a one year contract with about 4-5 million overpay.  That is not as bad as other contracts we have signed in the past.  If we trade him we need salary relief.  I would be good if we were able to trade Dobnak with Vazquez and 5 million international draft bonus as that frees up 18 million because of the 5 million we don’t spend on international players.  That allows us to keep Paddack if we decide to keep pitching depth and we can pay 6 million or so for a C and still make out 12 million in savings.  I don’t know how much we need to move from the books but this is the only way it makes sense to me as trading Vazquez for a net 2 million in savings or less is a waste.

[jmlease1]

I hate the fact that the self-imposed payroll limitations have us in a position where we need to do a salary dump to make improvements to the roster, but we are where we are.

The reality is, if we can move off Vazquez's contract, we should absolutely do it. he's a good guy who works with pitchers well and and brings positive intangibles to the team, but it's also true that he can't hit much for very long. He'll have a hot streak or three in a season, but his numbers at the end of the day will be...poor.

But he's still a quality defensive catcher, and in MLB these days not very many catchers can hit their weight, so for the right team he could fill a role reasonably, and they would only be looking at a 1-year commitment, so even if Vazquez repeats 2024 it won't hurt much, and even a fairly modest bounceback would make him acceptable at a position where there aren't many solutions out there. At least vazquez has done it before on a big stage.

i don't expect much if anything in return, but I'd still do it. Camargo has little left to prove in AAA and is a reasonable backup option and if he flunks out, then the team will likely have Winkel or someone like him in AAA to give a shot, and if that craps out too it's not that hard to find a no-hit solid field experienced MLB catcher interested in one last job off the waiver wire or via small time trade.

$10M would go a long way to fill positions of much greater need.

(I'm also baffled by the desire to run Jeffers out of town; he was a quality defensive catcher in 2024 and above league average as a hitter even in a down year. he wasn't all that far off in controlling the running game: if he'd thrown out just 3 more dudes he'd have landed at league average, and Vazquez wasn't any better)

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I don't care if you subscribe to mentoring or not. Serious young players seek out more experienced players who have played the game...

Like it or not, Ryan Jeffers is a successful, veteran MLB catcher who has tried a number of different approaches behind the plate with a glove or next to it with a bat. The kind of player serious young guys seek out based on your suggestion. 

Jeffers worked on his game and sought the help of Twins coaches like Conger (defense) and Popkins (offense) to improve weaknesses in his game. He didn't just do things randomly on his own and ignore the Twins' front office and coaches. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5295401/2024/02/24/twins-catcher-ryan-jeffers/

The new theory on setting up middle-middle is a Twins philosophy which Ryan Jeffers adopted because he's willing to try new things. Vazquez doesn't have to drop as low as Jeffers to get low strike calls because he's already super short. That allows Vazquez the opportunity to stand taller. He can't teach height.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I don't care if you subscribe to mentoring or not. Serious young players seek out more experienced players who have played the game, if they don't they are at a disadvantage. Yes, there are some not-so-good mentors & there are some bad mentees who have no potential & you can't make them into superstars. I'm not talking about Pinto-type young catchers, I'm talking about young catchers with real potential that has a strong desire to achieve,

When listening to Jeffers, a lot of his changes in catching has came on his own not help from coaching.

You have any quotes you can show us about Jeffers apparently ignoring coaching and catching how he wants? If Jeffers was putting in work to improve his catching why didn't go to vital core mentor Vazquez?

[bean5302]

26 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I hate the fact that the self-imposed payroll limitations have us in a position where we need to do a salary dump to make improvements to the roster, but we are where we are...

...Camargo has little left to prove in AAA and is a reasonable backup option...

Every single team in baseball has salary limitations, and every team in baseball has done "salary dumps" to improve. The Yankees dumped Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela on the Twins to justify the cost of the Donaldson contract for example.

Camargo's .212/.290/.403 wRC+ 76 experience in AAA last year says he has quite a bit left to prove. Projection models suggest .203/.258/.346 at the MLB level for a wRC+ 70. Vazquez bat, but with a questionable glove. He's emergency depth the Twins didn't even want to play when they had to call him up.

I think you're right about finding a rebound MiLB contract guy as depth like a Max Stassi.

[DJL44]

57 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I would be good if we were able to trade Dobnak with Vazquez and 5 million international draft bonus

I hadn't thought of that. How about Dobnak and $5M in international bonus money to the Dodgers for C Hunter Feduccia.

The Dodgers get $5M to offer Sasaki and a $3M salary that doesn't count toward the luxury tax. The Twins get a backup C for negative $8M in 2025. Bonus - Ryan Jeffers gets to hit LHP again.

This allows them to send Vazquez to the Cubs for a grade 40 prospect. $18M cleared from the 2025 budget.

[Doctor Gast]

46 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

You have any quotes you can show us about Jeffers apparently ignoring coaching and catching how he wants? If Jeffers was putting in work to improve his catching why didn't go to vital core mentor Vazquez?

There exists quotes to support what I said. Again you add words I didn't say, I never said he ignored the coaches input. Do you have quotes to the contrary? 

Good question. You'll have to ask him.

[chpettit19]

34 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

There exists quotes to support what I said. Again you add words I didn't say, I never said he ignored the coaches input. Do you have quotes to the contrary? 

Good question. You'll have to ask him.

I didn't ask if they existed, I asked if you had them. I'll take if from your response that you won't be providing the support to what you said. You implied that Jeffers was doing things his own way instead of how the coaches were doing things. Or at least that's how I understood it. I apologize if I misunderstood. Maybe you just mean he went to Driveline to rework his throwing motion. That wouldn't be weird at all. I don't need quotes to the contrary. The assumption is that players are doing things the way the team coaches them. You're the one claiming the contrary. 

Again, why should I have to ask him? You're the one making claims, very strongly, on numerous threads, but don't have any real evidence. Do you have examples of why we should view Vazquez as a great mentor? Has he mentored other young catchers? Because you don't believe he's successfully mentored a 2nd round pick who made it to the majors in 2 years and had multiple above average framing seasons before Vazquez got here and has above average pop times in the 2 years he's been with Jeffers so I'm curious why you believe he's a "member of the core" for his mentoring ability when he hasn't been able to mentor Jeffers. What can he do in 1 year with a different young catcher that he couldn't do in 2 with Jeffers?

[tony&rodney]

The idea of trading international bonus money is interesting, especially as a way to move two guys who have some, but limited, value to the 2025 Twins. 

While I'm of the belief that the Twins need to keep several million for signing a number of  players, there are bound to be a few teams very interested in accumulating the pool numbers. San Diego seems like an obvious choice. Reducing Vazquez and Dobnak may be possible in this manner. 

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I hadn't thought of that. How about Dobnak and $5M in international bonus money to the Dodgers for C Hunter Feduccia.

The Dodgers get $5M to offer Sasaki and a $3M salary that doesn't count toward the luxury tax. The Twins get a backup C for negative $8M in 2025. Bonus - Ryan Jeffers gets to hit LHP again.

This allows them to send Vazquez to the Cubs for a grade 40 prospect. $18M cleared from the 2025 budget.

If that C prospect in LA is good enough I would include more international spending cap in case we need to kick in a million or two in the Vazquez trade with the Cubs.  But the C prospect needs to be Jeffers caliber or better. 

[old nurse]

I asked a question about Ronnie Henriquez and got the answer to the question with this article. I bet he gets Topa and Tonkin, too. 

[Clear Lake Twinsfan]

I've done a little reading on the possibility of trading a portion of a team's international signing pool, and while the current players agreement makes this easier to do than under the previous agreement, there are still limits on the amount that can be traded.  Specifically, the amount traded must be in increments of $250,000 (unless the trading team has less than $250,000 left in the pool) and the acquiring team may only acquire an amount up to 60% of their original pool amount.  For 2025, the Twins pool amount is $7,550,500, San Diego's is $6,261,600 and the Dodgers have a pool of $5,146,200.  This means that the maximum amount that the Twins could trade to San Diego is $3,750,000 and the maximum that could be traded to the Dodgers is $3,000,000.  So we'll have to dial back the idea to trade $5 million to a team just a bit.  

[Riverbrian]

I admit that I wasn't thinking about international pool money.

I am now. 

In theory,,, The Twins may want to take advantage of this Sasaki market condition. The big boys may be willing to pay. 

[TopGunn#22]

While I'm just as anxious as everybody to clear as much salary as possible (Dobnak included) to be able to at least make a couple moves this off season, I think with $7.5 million in international signing money the Twins are in a strong position to actually sign Sasaki. 

The Twins FO really needs to determine from Sasaki if they have a realistic chance.  If they do, they need to pursue this.  When is there going to be a chance to add a 23 year old pitcher with his stuff and command at a price like this?  If they are able to sign Sasaki he will be an incredible asset who either shines in the Twins rotation for years, or can be traded away for a king's ransom after a season or two.  Either way, he would be an incredible asset.

Now, if Sasaki's representation tells the Twins he has no intention of playing in Minnesota, then that's a different story and I would strongly consider a trade with the Padres, Dodgers or Cubs to clear some very bad salary decisions.  But until the chance at Sasaki is determined hopeless, I'm going after this kid with a vengeance.  

One other team that that wasn't mentioned by Brandon that has had interest in Vasquez in the past and who has probably the worst catching situation in all of MLB is the Marlins.  When your present catching situation is as bad as Miami's is, and if you can take back some salary so it's more of an equal salary dump (Alcantara, Luzardo), Miami could be an excellent trade partner.  Especially if the Twins were willing to part with one top 10 prospect like Gabe Gonzalez or Marco Raya and maybe a player like Larnach, there's a chance the Marlins would part with an Alcantara or Luzardo and also take on all $10 million of Vasquez.

But none of this is even a consideration until a trade is made to get a young catcher who is on the verge of making his big league debut.  We've speculated on Rushing (Dodgers) Teel (Red Sox) and Quero (Brewers).  Any of these guys would be a prize worth going after.  And if Sasaki is clear that he has no interest in the Twins, some international Pool money could be used very strategically.   

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I think with $7.5 million in international signing money the Twins are in a strong position to actually sign Sasaki. 

I would be shocked if Sasaki gave up tens of millions of dollars in endorsement money to sign with the Twins instead of the Yankees or Dodgers.

[bean5302]

The Twins are for sale, the front office, manager and coaches are in lame duck status, the team failed to make the playoffs last year, the ownership has cut payroll, and attendance is poor. An elite international free agent is far more likely to sign with a team where he'll know the people he's working with in 6 months.

[Linus]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I would be shocked if Sasaki gave up tens of millions of dollars in endorsement money to sign with the Twins instead of the Yankees or Dodgers.

Plus I believe there are 6-8 other teams that have the same amount as the Twins to offer. Sounds like a long shot but agree the call should be made. 

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

While I'm just as anxious as everybody to clear as much salary as possible (Dobnak included) to be able to at least make a couple moves this off season, I think with $7.5 million in international signing money the Twins are in a strong position to actually sign Sasaki. 

The Twins FO really needs to determine from Sasaki if they have a realistic chance.  If they do, they need to pursue this.  When is there going to be a chance to add a 23 year old pitcher with his stuff and command at a price like this?  If they are able to sign Sasaki he will be an incredible asset who either shines in the Twins rotation for years, or can be traded away for a king's ransom after a season or two.  Either way, he would be an incredible asset.

Now, if Sasaki's representation tells the Twins he has no intention of playing in Minnesota, then that's a different story and I would strongly consider a trade with the Padres, Dodgers or Cubs to clear some very bad salary decisions.  But until the chance at Sasaki is determined hopeless, I'm going after this kid with a vengeance.  

One other team that that wasn't mentioned by Brandon that has had interest in Vasquez in the past and who has probably the worst catching situation in all of MLB is the Marlins.  When your present catching situation is as bad as Miami's is, and if you can take back some salary so it's more of an equal salary dump (Alcantara, Luzardo), Miami could be an excellent trade partner.  Especially if the Twins were willing to part with one top 10 prospect like Gabe Gonzalez or Marco Raya and maybe a player like Larnach, there's a chance the Marlins would part with an Alcantara or Luzardo and also take on all $10 million of Vasquez.

But none of this is even a consideration until a trade is made to get a young catcher who is on the verge of making his big league debut.  We've speculated on Rushing (Dodgers) Teel (Red Sox) and Quero (Brewers).  Any of these guys would be a prize worth going after.  And if Sasaki is clear that he has no interest in the Twins, some international Pool money could be used very strategically.   

You nailed this except , if we were fortunate to land Sasaki  I would much rather have the experience of Vazquez  and trade jeffers   , if jeffers defense  was better with his bat , I'd keep him , but after 3 or 4 seasons  jeffers is who is is  , nothing personal  but jeffers is just around average on defense with a streaky bat  ...

If we are out on Sasaki  , I like the idea of buying a catcher from the Dodgers system  that can hit and play above average  defense  with the international money , the reports are that the Dodgers have 3 catchers  close to MLB  ready  ....

Catching used to be the most important position on the field  and if they hit it was a plus ...

Let's give a toast to a successful offseason  , if the front office doesn't get creative , I will continue to NOT cut them any slack  ...

[TopGunn#22]

I agree Blyleven2011, and I also agree with those who pointed out how difficult it would be for the Twins to actually sign Sasaki...endorsement money, front office who could be gone before the 2026 season, manager who could be gone etc...

That said, I'd certainly want to check in.  And if it's obvious he wouldn't come to Minnesota, I can make a deal with the Dodgers for Rushing or the Red Sox for Teel and I throw in $3 million or so of International Pool money to clinch the deal.  That International Pool money could have a very large impact on getting a deal done.  If the Dodgers could get Sasaki at the bargain price he would be, that would alleviate a lot of stress regarding their brittle, oft-injured starting rotation and allow them to be even MORE aggressive in signing Juan Soto.  

Let's say the Twins could make that deal without having to offer Jhoan Duran.  SWR, Castro, Marco Raya and $3.5 million of International Pool money for Dalton Rushing and Dustin May.  May missed the entire 2024 season after a couple injuries.  He will pitch in 2025 but then has the right to be a free agent.  Rather than have the Dodgers give up Vesia, a needed left hander in their bullpen, the Twins can take a flyer on May who has great stuff but can't seem to remain healthy.  He's Matt Canterino with better control and 192 innings in the big leagues under his belt.  The crown jewel of the deal is Rushing.  May is a high reward lottery ticket.   

The Twins could talk a 2 year extension if they like the medical reports and someone goes to watch him throw.  

Maybe this wouldn't interest the Dodgers at all.  But the chance to add Sasaki to their rotation with the infusion of the International Pool money as well as SWR and a young arm to replace May as well as an All Star Utility Player (someone Dave Roberts would LOVE to have) may just be enough.  The Dodgers are set a catcher with Will Smith and have 2 other fine catching prospects in the system.  I think they go for it.

As most here on TD agree, the crucial deal to be made this year is to get a catching prospect like Rushing or Teel who is ready for the major leagues in 2025.  That opens up the possibility to move a catcher and reshuffle the roster a bit.  

I don't do BBTV anymore, so I'd need someone to run this deal and see if it's viable.  If not, what would be?