Astros Acquire Catcher Christian Vazquez
The Red Sox play the Astros in Houston on Monday. The good news is Christian Vazquez won’t need a flight home. The Red Sox primary catcher has been traded to the Astros with less than 24 hours prior to the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline.
Mark Berman of Fox26 was the first to report the news:
I don’t care what anybody says, Christian Vazquez is a damn good catcher. Not sure how many other guys I’d rather have. He’s great with the pitching staff. The metrics for framing aren’t off the charts good but he passes with flying colors on the eyeball test. Incredible arm. Has this insane knack for picking off base runners. Also can hit and makes a ton of contact.
Vazquez, 31, currently is a 1.8 WAR player while slashing a batting line of .282/.327/.432. Not going to find that many catchers in the league that can sport that type of batting average. Regardless, it’s an upgrade over what Korey Lee is giving them right now with his .160 average.
UPDATE:
Okay, so apparently the Red Sox have done a bunch of weird things making three separate moves just now. These are the full details.
Christian Vazquez is going to Houston. The Red Sox will receive minor leaguers Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu. Both are borderline top 30 prospects in the Astros system. Chaim Bloom better know what he’s doing because this wouldn’t appear to be a great return for the top catcher on the market.
They have already found Vazquez’s replacement apparently. Reese McGuire and a player to be named later are coming to Boston in exchange for Jake Diekman. Hard to hate that trade for financial reasons alone. Add $4 million to the payroll for next year clearing Diekman’s money off the books.
Boston will also add outfielder Tommy Pham. It would appear a player to be named later or cash is headed to the Reds. No idea what this accomplishes but whatever.
