Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez doesn't always have the cleanest innings, littering the bases with some hits and walks, working some deep counts and elevating fans' heart rates. But like a great adventurer, he finds his way to the finish line almost every time. Over the past three seasons, he has 237 strikeouts in 183⅔ innings and an adjusted ERA+ of 194.
To put that last number into perspective, these are the career adjusted ERA+ stats for some relievers of whom you have probably heard:
Bruce Sutter 136
Goose Gossage 126
Trevor Hoffman 141
Rollie Fingers 120
Dennis Eckersley 116
Mariano Rivera 205
Those are all Hall of Fame relievers, of course, and though it's not fair to compare a smaller sample of Vazquez's career with the whole of the others, you get the point. He's pitching really well for Pittsburgh, he's right in the prime of his career, and other teams would love to have him, especially in light of his contract.
Vazquez is making $4.5 million this year and is guaranteed $5.75 million for 2020 and $7.75 million in 2021. But it doesn't stop there: Pittsburgh holds two consecutive club options for 2022 and 2023, each for $10 million. To put that into context: Craig Kimbrel just signed a three-year, $43 million deal with the Cubs.
The bottom line is Vazquez -- one of the game's best closers -- is guaranteed about $16 million, and he's under the Pirates' control for as many as four more seasons beyond this one.
He is incredibly valuable as a pitcher, having just made the All-Star team for the second time, and his contract might be just as valuable. Rival managers talk with relish about the prospect of being able to call on him in a big spot in the postseason, and rival officials talk about how neatly he would fit into their payroll.
Vazquez is so coveted right now in the market, the Pirates should (and probably will) at least listen to what proposals other teams are willing to discuss. The Yankees got Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman, and Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield for Andrew Miller, and the Pirates would presumably have a shot to do at least as well.
And if they don't, they could always say no and keep Vazquez for themselves.
The cons and pros for the Pirates in trading Vazquez:
Cons
1. It would fuel the cynicism of a frustrated fan base, stoking the belief of some that the Pirates aren't trying to win.
There's an argument to be made that at the end of the regular seasons in 2014 and 2015, the Pirates had the best team in baseball. But they lost to Madison Bumgarner in the wild-card game, at the beginning of the greatest postseason run by any pitcher in history, and they lost the wild-card game again the next year to Jake Arrieta, at the end of the greatest second-half performance by any pitcher. Pittsburgh tried to win then and hasn't tanked like other clubs, but the trades of veterans Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen and the union accusation that the Pirates weren't spending enough money created the narrative that the small-market franchise is not trying to win.
At the moment, the Pirates are 5½ games out of first place in the NL Central, with a 44-49 record. They're not really in it, but not really out of it, either, and the notion of trading an All-Star in midseason would not sit well with some of their following.
2. Vazquez is a sure thing for Pittsburgh right now, and the players they would acquire for Vazquez aren't necessarily that. The Pirates know the risks involved in any trade all too well. Last year, they swapped young Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow, along with minor leaguer Shane Baz, for Chris Archer, to bolster the rotation. Meadows and Glasnow blossomed, and Archer has struggled with the Pirates.
Pros
1. Reliever performance tends to be extremely volatile. Last winter, Edwin Diaz was generally regarded as the best reliever in baseball, and this year, he has had his problems, hampering the Mets. Vazquez has a ton of value now because of his performance, but if he suddenly lost the feel for his changeup, or his velocity tumbled, or he got hurt, all of that would evaporate.
2. It's imperative for a small-market team like the Pirates to capitalize on significant trade value when it develops in a player. Pittsburgh doesn't have the resources to compete for high-end free agents, so it must constantly maintain a steady feed of talent from the farm system -- and when it has the right opportunity to trade a veteran at the right time for either new (and cheap) major leaguers or minor league assets, the Bucs must always consider it.
One of the best recent examples occurred near the trade deadline in 2016. Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon had pitched spectacularly for the Pirates, but he was nearing free agency and there was no way he was going to re-sign. Pittsburgh was 52-50 in late July, 9½ games out of first place and three games out of the wild card, and general manager Neal Huntington pushed ahead to make a deal for which he was widely criticized, trading Melancon to the Nationals.
The return? A young reliever named Felipe Rivero, who would later change his name in baseball to ... Felipe Vazquez.
The Pirates can set a high price on Vazquez now, sit back and see if somebody meets their ask -- but if anybody gets close, they should be prepared to do what it takes to close the deal. Vazquez might be the most coveted available player over the next 16 days.