Former Red Sox and most recently Astro's Catcher Christian Vazquez has inked a three year 30 million dollar deal with the Minnesota Twins. Film at eleven. The soon to be 33 year old Vazquez who won his second World Series title after a trade from the Red sox to the Astros at last trade deadline will replace Gary Sanchez as the Twins new backstop.
Money and playing time seemed to be Vazquez motivation here. After being delt to Houston last year Vaz got the start in only 23 of the Stro's remaining 59 games as Dusty Baker felt more comfortable with his own man Martin Maldonado calling pitches than the newly acquired Vazquez who was brought in to give Houston a bump in plate production. Vazquez slashed a .274/.315/.399 line on the year with 9 home runs and 52 RBI last year combined between his time in Boston and Houston. Wonder how Bloom is going to spin this one ?
Vazquez while not an All-Star level catcher is a fantastic two way player to have behind the dish. His Arm strength and transfer times are well above average for his position and we have already talked about what he does while standing at the plate. With the new rules entering the league next year ( Bigger Bases , Pitch Clock and Limited Throwovers to Fist ) having a catcher with the attributes of a Christian Vazquez will be more important than ever. and the Twins did well in locking him up for three years at just 10 million per.
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