The entirety of the internet is reporting that the Yankees are about to acquire Braves starter Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino. Joel Sherman is the one with those lastest names.
When the Red Sox signed John Lackey, it seemed as if they may have stolen one from under the Yankee's noses. New York was in need of a starter, with serious questions in the bottom of their rotation, and John Lackey appeared to be the best talent the Yankees could possibly acquire, with Roy Halladay an unlikely option.
Not to be outdone, though, the Yankees have gone ahead and acquired one of last year's best pitchers. Vazquez ranked 4th in strikeouts, 9th in ERA, and 3rd in FIP in 2009. The Red Sox faced Vazquez once last year, and only managed 1 run in 7.2 innings.
Vazquez has one year remaining on his contract at $11 million, but let's none of us make any mistakes about the Yankees ability to resign a player if they want to.
For the Yankees side of the trade, we all know about Melky Cabrera. He is an entirely average Center Fielder, and unlikely ever to be much more. Mike Dunn is a swingman type who does not rank too high in any prospect valuation, though he had 20 nice innings in the IL last year. Arodys Vizcaino is a legitimate young pitching prospect, but still, the value of this deal seems fairly low. I ask you, Red Sox fans, what would you have given up for a year of Javier Vazquez? What if it meant freeing up money by not signing John Lackey? Assuming this deal is not derailed over the next few hours, these are the questions we're going to have to ask ourselves.