Topes Deal Vazquez in Blockbuster

Springfield (AP) – Coach Mike Ditka once traded his entire draft for one player (Ricky Williams) when he was in charge of the New Orleans Saints. It took almost that haul to pry Javier Vazquez from the Springfield Isotopes. In a shocking move, for the second straight season (following Rich Harden last year) the Springfield Isotopes have traded a top of the rotation starting pitcher. On Monday it was announced that the Topes sent Javier Vazquez, Jack Cust, Reed Johnson, Dan Wheeler, its 7th round pick and its last two draft picks to the Seattle Pilots for Jason Marquis, Gregg Zaun, and Seattle’s first three picks in the upcoming NASBL draft.

Vazquez, who came to the Topes in an offseason trade with the Georgia Roadkill in 2005 (via one of the picks Springfield received in the infamous Barry Zito trade), has been an extremely durable and valuable known commodity for the Topes year in and year out. In his five seasons with the Topes, Vazquez compiled a 64-46 record with a very respectable 4.64 ERA and has averaged almost 200 innings per season. This includes a disastrous first season with the Topes in which he went 6-13 with a 6.13 ERA, as Javier had a difficult time transitioning from the big city atmosphere and media of Georgia to the small market of Springfield.

Due to its midseason trade for Josh Hamilton, the Topes were left with few picks in the upcoming draft and numerous sources claimed that a Topes starting pitcher would be moved this offseason to generate additional draft picks. However, the name bandied about was that of A.J. Burnett and not of Vazquez.

“We appreciate all that Javier, Jack, Reed and Dan have done for the Isotopes organization, but believe that the picks acquired in this trade give us the chance to get a little younger via the draft, something we sorely need,” GM Doug Sherlag stated in a Tuesday morning press conference. “Not to mention, it’s not everyday you can add a Jason Marquis or a Gregg Zaun to your squad. I saw Gregg Zaun hit a called-shot home run in the 1999 Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown. Only two guys I know of have done such a thing and Babe Ruth wasn’t available.”

True Story – Sherlag was one of the 9,773 in attendance on that day.
http://www.rangerfans.com/archives/1999/07/a-measure-of-fame-zaun-calls-h.html

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070520&content_id=1975879&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor

Sherlag can say anything he wants, but the trade smells like a salary dump to many Topes faithful. It was predicted by many that the Topes would have a difficult time affording its starting pitching staff after the big money long term contracts signed by C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett after last season and this move comes as no surprise to a team known for its frugality.

It is expected that Gregg Zaun’s acquisition marks the first time in six seasons that Brian Schneider hasn’t entered Spring Training as the starting catcher and Zaun represents another hub in the revolving door of catchers that have called the Topes home since 2000 (in the company of Chad Kreuter, Alberto Castillo, Mitch Meluskey, Einar Diaz, Eddie Taubensee, Shawn Wooten, Brad Ausmus, Robert Machado, Tom Wilson, Brandon Inge, Miguel Olivo, Damian Miller, Jorge Posada, Ramon Hernandez, and Schneider)

Jason Marquis’ days as an Isotope may be numbered however. The trade still leaves the Topes with six starting pitchers for next season and it is probable that Sherlag will move either Marquis or Jarrod Washburn before roster cut-down day for another draft pick.