Trade Target, could the Miami Marlins get Christian Vazquez to fill their catcher void?

The Miami Marlins catching woes of 2023 were many and made worse by a platoon of ineffectiveness. Is a trade for Twins catcher Christian Vazquez in the cards for the struggling Marlins? The Twins are shopping him and he could be a decent value for the low budget Marlins. Does Vazquez bring enough value to the Marlins and Nick Fortes to have him for the 2024 and 2025 seasons? Let’s take a look at the comparison. 

The biggest value add for the Marlins in Christian Vazquez is his vast playoff experience. Vazquez can help the young Marlins rotation develop and get through high intensity games. He has been in the playoffs four times and the last time he won the World Series with the Astros. That experience alone will help the Marlins get better this season and hopefully have a better showing in the postseason. 

Is Twins Christian Vazquez a better choice?

Is Christian Vazquez any better than Jacob Stallings, let’s take a look. Stallings hit .191 over 276 plate appearances with 3 home runs, and 20 RBI, a 24% K rate, and a -0.6 WAR.  Stallings defensively had only a 13% caught stealing rate, allowing 58 total bags. Vazquez on the other hand hit .223 over 355 plate appearances with 6 home runs, 32 RBI, a 23% K rate, and a -0.3 WAR. The biggest contrast would come on the defensive side where Vazquez threw out 24% of would be base stealers, giving up a total of 54 stolen bases. 

Clearly Vazquez is an improvement, but is he a big enough one to take on his contract? Vazquez has a few years left on his 3 year, 30 million dollar contract and I would think the Marlins would want for the Twins to keep some of that contract to trade for him. Vazquez could be a cheap trade option though because of his off year in 2023. 

The Marlins could offer the Twins a middling relief pitcher like Eli Villalobos or a young one in Jeff Lindgren. I don’t love the trajectory Vazquez is on as he is going on year 10, but he is more of a hit for average guy than a power hitter. He is a good option but not the best one out there and if the Marlins can’t bring in one of a few free agents then he is next on the list. Either way, Vazquez is a value add if the Marlins go that route. 

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