The Boston Red Sox have one of the best young cores in all of baseball. Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley, and Andrew Benintendi make up that group but today the Red Sox extended a pseudo captain behind the dish, Christian Vazquez. The trusted Red Sox backstop is one of the more underrated members of the group but there’s no denying how important he is to the Red Sox. Vazquez will sign a long-term deal to remain in Boston for the foreseeable future.
Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald had the terms of the new contract extension between the two parties.
Terms of contract… Christian Vazquez will earn $2.85 million in 2019, $4.2 million in 2020, $6.25 million in 2021 with a club option in 2022 for $7 million ($250K buyout).
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) March 24, 2018
Vazquez, 27, might be the best defensive catcher in the sport. Consider the fact that Vazquez has posted an absurd 31 defensive runs saved in only 1,668 innings makes his defensive prowess a valuable asset to the Red Sox. He also calls a darn good game behind the plate and has worked well with the Red Sox pitching staff. The Red Sox had the best bullpen ERA in baseball last year and Vazquez certainly played a part in that role.
Vazquez’s bat also took off in 2017 to warrant the extension. After posting a batting line of 290/.330/.404 across 345 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2017, he proved that he should be the primary catcher moving forward. Sandy Leon’s role in Boston has basically been reduced to being Chris Sale’s personal catcher every fifth day. For the Red Sox, buying out one-year of his free agency with a club option appeared to be a risk worth taking. For a big market team to cough over 13 million guaranteed during the span of his arbitration years makes a lot of sense in the short term as well.
