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The Tigers placed Virgil Vasquez on waivers and he was claimed by the Red Sox today. Vasquez had a strong showing in the AFL in 2006 and got a couple shots to start in 2007. However he struggled in 2008 for AAA and even the pitching starved Tigers didn’t call him up.
The timing of this is a little odd. Could it be that the Tigers were clearing 40 man roster space to announce a trade at the completion of the World Series? If so why not just jettison Dane Sardinha or Macay McBride (who also could be on waivers, we just don’t know it)? Most likely this is roster pruning heading into the offseason. With Vasquez they probably would have liked to have kept him, but not at the cost of a spot on the 40 man.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
They won’t jettison Sardhina because…..well, he’s a catcher. McBride is injured and recovering from surgery, yes? Before he went down earlier this year I seem to recall that they were thinking of trying him out in the starting role. Since that never happened because of the injury, perhaps they are considering giving it another go next year. And remember he is left-handed, which can trump many other common-sense notions.
You know this really could turn out to be a good pick up by the Sox. Vasquez has shown signs of becoming a good pitcher in the past.
Especially with Byrd and Wakefield reaching a combined age of 156, he could slide into the number 5 spot nicely behind Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester and Buccholz/Bowden/Masterson. Or he could be a big help in the bullpen.
If he doesn’t pan out, nothing hurt. I would be fully digging this move if I were a Sox fan.