Mood Music - Let Me Take You Home Tonight by Boston
After taking a one week Final Exam related hiatus, Minor League Mondays is back, and this week it's going to be all about Jorge Vazquez, who will hereafter be referred to as El Chato. After several seasons in Mexico, El Chato joined the Yankees system during the 2009 season. Here is a scouting report from Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues.
His .389 wOBA is undeniably gaudy, but there are obvious flaws in his game. First and foremost, his plate discipline leaves a lot to be desired. Vazquez has drawn just five walks this season despite being one of the league’s preeminent power hitters, and in 730 plate appearances since signing with the Yankees back in 2009, he’s drawn just 23 unintentional walks.
Vazquez is a very interesting player because he has such glaring strengths and weaknesses. He has otherworldly power and has the ability to hit for a high average while posting huge slugging numbers. He, however, is not great on defense, does not walk, and strikes out a ton.
With that said, I think that Vazquez's skill set is absolutely perfect for a bench or part time player. He has the ability to come off the bench and hit a home run, the ability to occasionally spell Mark Teixeira at first base, and has already tallied 14 home runs at AAA in a mere 36 games. While he, as a right handed swing-for-the-fences type of hitter, represents something of a redundancy of Andruw Jones, I'd have to think Vazquez has earned his shot. Before last night's game, Jones was sporting a dismal .229/.270/.343 line (not to mention Jorge Posada's .165/.272/.349 monstrosity), which I'd have to think Vazquez could top with some fairly consistent playing time.
In addition, there is simply no reason to carry three mop-up men (Amaury Sanit, Hector Noesi, Luis Ayala), so someone could easily be sent down to make room for Vazquez. Some of us on PSA have been calling for it for a while now, but it needs to be El Chato time in the Bronx.