On the other hand, there’s this:
The Orioles’ Sidney Ponson seems to still be a possibility to land in Atlanta. But during this weekend, there have been a few Braves players who have hinted that the Expos’ Javier Vazquez may be donning a tomahawk across his chest before the week is complete.
Vazquez will pitch against the Braves on Monday afternoon in what might be an audition. The Expos right-hander has a 2.14 ERA in his past six starts and has always been held in high regard by Atlanta manager Bobby Cox.
I would kill to have Vazquez in a Braves uniform. He’s the type of pitcher the Braves need to get, not a yokel like Ponson.
That wouldn’t be such a bad deal. But would Montreal give him up when they’re still in the wild card race?
FYI, Vazquez makes $6.0 million this year and is a free agent after the season. I would think there’s no way they can keep him after this year, so they’ll probably move him. As far as the wild card goes, they were still ostensibly in the race last year when they traded Cliff Floyd to the Red Sox.
I stand corrected then. As I said earlier, that would be a great deal for Atlanta. It would be good to have a power pitcher in the rotation.
Kris Benson has decided to shut it down for the rest of the year rather than risk another injury, so that’s another guy the Braves won’t be getting.
My understanding now is that Vazquez is up for his last year of arbitration, and will probably seek something close to what Millwood got.
You may be right, Mac, but this is Vazquez’s sixth full year in the big leagues. He debuted on April 3, 1998 and has not been back to the minors since. Wouldn’t that make him a free agent after this year?
I would be fine with three more months of Vasquez and then the release of Maddux coupled with the relatively cheaper resigning of either Vasquez or Kevin Millwood…