WILL THE YANKEES REUNITE WITH JAVIER VAZQUEZ?

Hal Steinbrenner has come out and said "We aren't done yet" and hearing that made me feel better.....well at least a little bit. I keep sitting back and waiting for a move to make me do a Derek Jeter style fist pump, and that hasn't happened. I keep clinging on to hope. As I read more and more reports from the scouts and beat writers I am REALLY not doing the fist pump.

In case you missed it, Javier Vazquez is back in the news. I was fine with that until I saw the Yankees attached to his name and I started to feel sick. It's the not so nice kind of Deja vu. The tossing and turning and nausea started to set in. I just have too many bad memories still. It's a work in progress right now. I remember watching games with one of my friends Chris back in 2010. He would defend him until he was blue in the face and I would stare at my television in disbelief and disagree with him. No offense to Vazquez, but I am not ready for a third go around and I am really hoping that the Yankees aren't either.

It was reported on Twitter HERE by Bob Nightengale that Vazquez is not only throwing well in Winter Leagues, but he has been impressing scouts. When I saw this show up on my Twitter feed I did a double take. Actually, more like a triple take. I don't know if he was eating special Wheaties, but this is the same guy that would throw about 88-92mph in 2010. He didn't exactly make any radar guns dance with joy in 2011 either with the Marlins. So now suddenly he is throwing 95mph and teams are starting to go crazy. OK, so maybe saying the Yankees are going crazy is a little far-fetched but they have noticed.

If taking a year off has given him new mechanics and a new groove to his game then I am truly happy for him. I just really don't think the Yankees should go back to this idea again. We tried the Vazquez experiment twice now, and both times it didn't deliver the best  results. I am sure some fans don't want to remember, but before anyone jumps for joy over his latest velocity spike, let's look at the numbers: 

2004: 14-10 in 32 games, 4.91 ERA, 198.0 IP, 195 H, 114 R, 108 ER, 33 HR, 60 BB

2010: 10-10 in 31 games, 5.32 ERA, 157.1 IP, 155 H, 96 R, 93 ER, 32 HR, 65 BB

Am I intrigued by the spike in velocity? I would be lying if I said "no." I want to know HOW, and I want to know WHERE that was when he pitched for us! Even if Vazquez has come up with some new magical method for his recent success, I look at the stats above and tell myself THAT is the real Vazquez, and this new phenomenon is going to be short lived. It won't take long for that to come to light. I know the old saying goes, "you can never have too much pitching..." and if that is the case, let's give a shot to one of the kids on the farm. You are taking the same risk; you are still rolling the dice. The big difference here is we won't be spending a lot of money that we clearly don't have.

I am not mentally prepared for another Vazquez reunion. To be quite honest, I am sitting here twitching just thinking about it. I know the Yankees say they are still shopping and I believe they are. I just don't think Vazquez is going to be that game changer that scouts seem to be impressed by. As far as the Yankees are concerned, we have other pressing needs. So please, Hal....if you are reading this I know sometimes I give you a hard time but, I think you would really help me sleep better at night if you passed on this one. Let one of the other 29 teams out there sign him!

What do you think? Is Vazquez worth another shot? Tell us what you think!

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ






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