What's Javier Vazquez' trade value?

In this post I will deal with Vazquez' trade value and who would replace him if he is traded.

So, what's his trade value? Is it Melky Cabrera? Melky has a .213 BA and that's too high. Righties are hitting .318 against Vazquez and lefties are hitting .353. Maybe someone hitting .100 in the majors. No- make that Triple-A. And he has to be 28 or older. A 16-year old Dominican prospect? Well, at least the prospect has some potential. A career imnor leaguer? Maybe he would do well if given a chance in the majors. Does he even deserve a player-to-be-named? Only someone older than him. Cash? Maybe $1000.

The rumor is Vazquez to the Mets. So, what would they give the Yankees? Well, first of all, the Yanks would have to keep all of his 11.5 million dollar salary. So, who would it be? Probably a player-to-be-named-later. Let's look at the Mets' Triple-A franchise for someone hitting .100 and who is 28 or older years old. The closer player to fitting this bacteria is actually Omir Santos who is hitting .156 at Triple-A and is 29 years old. Santos was even drafted by the Yankees! But, Santos hit .260 with 7 homers for the Mets in '09, so maybe they wouldn't trade him. Still, the Mets do have Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, and Josh Thole, so they could spare a catcher. Would the Yankees take Santos for Vazquez? No way. In all seriousness, the Mets would probably trade a decent prospect or two. Or, how about Daniel Murphy? Maybe the Yanks could use another bench player as least while Granderson is out. I'll say this- if the Mets want Vazquez, they better get him now. He won't be this bad soon. The Mets could get him for minimum value.

Now, let's say the Yanks trade Vazquez. Who's their 5th starter? I guess it's Sergio Mitre by default. He has gone 0-0 with a 1.23 ERA so far in 4 relief appearances as a long reliever. His best season as a starter was '07 with the Marlins when he went 5-8 with a 4.65 ERA. He has never had a good full season as a starter. Would he be better than Vazquez? I would doubt it. So, would the Yanks bring someone up from Triple-A? If so, the choice would be between Zach McAllister and Ivan Nova. McAllister has gone 0-1 at Triple-A with a 3.86 ERA. He has an 8.8 K/9 and a 2.6 BB/9. Nova has gone 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA at Scranton. He has an 8.4 K/9 and a 3.0 BB/9. McAllister is 22 years old and Nova is 23. Would the Yankees really want to bring up one of them to be the 5th starter right now? Well, if Vazquez is this bad and Mitre isn't good enough, the answer will be yes. But, the Yanks wouldn't prefer to do that.

Unless Vazquez continues to get killed in his next couple of starts, they shouldn't trade him. But, if a team (ex. the Mets) really wants Vazquez, they should trade for him right now.