Vazquez gets $34.5 million, 3-year extension from White Sox

Post by **Michael** » March 6 07, 6:53 pm

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Pitcher Javier Vazquez and the Chicago White Sox agreed Tuesday to a $34.5 million, three-year contract extension through 2010.

Vazquez will get $12.5 million this season, the final year of his current contract, and $11.5 million in each of the following three seasons.

The right-hander, who went 11-12 with a 4.84 ERA with the White Sox a year ago, is 100-105 overall in 10 major league seasons. He pitched three innings Tuesday against Colorado, giving up four runs and six hits.

"Javier and his representative made a proposal that we felt was fair and made sense for us over the next several seasons," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said in a statement. "Javier has expressed a desire to remain in Chicago, and based on what he has accomplished in his career and the familiarity and stability he has found with the White Sox and he city of Chicago, it's a win-win situation for both sides."

Over the past nine years, Vazquez ranks among the major league leaders in strikeouts (fifth), starts (sixth) and innings (eighth). He is the only pitcher with 10 wins, 30 starts and 150 strikeouts in each of the last seven
seasons.

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greenback44 · Post by **greenback44** » March 6 07, 6:56 pm

Mark Buehrle consequences...

Cronos · Post by **Cronos** » March 6 07, 6:57 pm

They chose to pay that much to him instead of Buehrle?

Either they really like Vazquez(for some reason), or really don't want to deal with Buehrle anymore.

I'm tempted to think it's the latter, and that makes me really wonder whether I want him pitching for the Cards at all, not even considering the price he'll fetch.

cabby7588 · Post by **cabby7588** » March 6 07, 7:04 pm

$11mil+ for Vazequez?

Good grief.

stlmark · Post by **stlmark** » March 6 07, 8:43 pm

That's a ridiculous amount of money for a mediocre pitcher.

I guess that's the market these days.

vinsanity · Post by **vinsanity** » March 6 07, 9:09 pm

Cronos69 wrote:I'm tempted to think [they don't want to deal with him], and that makes me really wonder whether I want him pitching for the Cards at all, not even considering the price he'll fetch.

They said the same things about Rolen and Edmonds...

Transmogrified Tiger · Post by **Transmogrified Tiger** » March 6 07, 9:13 pm

Vazquez is better than I thought. Decent WHIP and K's a lot of guys for a starter, durable too. It could've been worse, they could've given that contract to Garland or Contreras.

Magneto · Post by **Magneto** » March 6 07, 9:47 pm

I'd take Vazquez over Buerhle in a heart beat. His stuff is FAR better, with much better peripherials. One of these days someone's gonna have to explain to me his peripherials in comparison to his ERA, because they are usually always excellent, and his ERA is never that great.

vinsanity · Post by **vinsanity** » March 6 07, 10:06 pm

Magneto wrote:I'd take Vazquez over Buerhle in a heart beat. His stuff is FAR better, with much better peripherials. One of these days someone's gonna have to explain to me his peripherials in comparison to his ERA, because they are usually always excellent, and his ERA is never that great.

Well I'm not the greatest in the world to ask...but if you compare the two on Fangraphs

Buehrle has a better BB/9 than Vazquez though both are good, he's given up a few HR's over the last few seasons (higher HR/9 than Buehrle until last year). But his ERA seemed to follow the trends with his HR/9 rate, when his HR/9 rate is slightly above average, so is his ERA, when his HR/9 falters, so does ERA.

ZigZagCardsFan · Post by **ZigZagCardsFan** » March 6 07, 10:07 pm

Didn't the Cardinals have rumored interest in Vazquez a few years ago? I'd sure like seeing him in this years rotation.