Despite a certain writer’s pleas for Yankee fans to shower Javier Vazquez with roses and words of encouragement, the righty got booed off the mound yet again this weekend. The numbers keep getting uglier: five runs on seven hits in three innings. He walked four, struck out two, and allowed three home runs.
Whether you believe that trading for him was a mistake or that he’s a talented pitcher who’s simply struggling, there will come a point where continued outings like Saturday’s will keep him out of the rotation entirely. That could happen sooner than later.
The Post reports that with an off-day Thursday, early indications are that they’re “likely” to skip Vazquez at Fenway Park on Friday, though there’s really nothing from Joe Girardi in the article that indicates that’ll be their decision. (He says they “have not discussed” Friday’s starter yet, and that whatever’s wrong with him, they “have to fix it.”)
In the Daily News, meanwhile, John Harper argues that trading him to the Mets would benefit both clubs. His thinking goes that Vazquez “would likely go right back to being a dependable starter” if he were to be traded to the National League, and that the Mets can’t go on forever with the inconsistent Oliver Perez and John Maine in their rotation. And though we’re not sure Javier Vazquez is ever the solution for a team looking for consistency, it’s not the craziest thing we’ve ever heard. Of course, we can’t even begin to imagine what the Yankees could realistically get in return.
Our take? They might as well skip him Friday. Sure, it’s insulting to do that to a veteran, but we’re not sure his psyche can take much more of a hit right now. And though we’re beginning to think this really will eventually end with a trade to a National League team, that probably won’t happen for a while. (After all, barring an injury, he couldn’t have less trade value right now.) If a simple kick in the ass can at least get him to the point where we’re not tempted to see how Kei Igawa’s doing at Scranton — answer: not great! — it’s worth a shot.