Davidoff: Vazquez has no regrets
Javier Vazquez delivers a pitch for the Marlins in spring training. Credit: AP
You can’t work very much around these realities: 1) Javier Vazquez has been a very successful major-league pitcher since establishing himself in 2000; and 2) In the past 11 years, his two worst seasons — at the least, two of his worst three — have come while employed by the Yankees in 2004 and last year.
Perhaps he just isn’t equipped for the American League.
“You know what? I had some good years in the American League, too,” he said Friday before his new team — the Marlins — opened their 2011 season against the Mets. “It’s just one of those things, man. I wish I could explain it.”
To be more precise, maybe Vazquez could get by in the AL Central with the White Sox but not the AL East with the Yankees. In any case, he accepts the fact that he’ll be viewed as a Big Apple failure.
“As long as I give 100 percent every time I go out, and I work hard and don’t quit, that’s all that matters,” said Vazquez, 34, who will make his first start for Florida today against the Mets at Sun Life Stadium. “My teammates know I tried hard, and I tried my best over there.”
His velocity became a problem with the Yankees last year, and Vazquez said he still doesn’t know why that occurred. His new manager, Edwin Rodriguez, said the righthander has touched 92 mph on the club’s radar gun.
“He showed that he was in great shape for the season,” Rodriguez said.
“Right now, I’m really not worrying about my velocity,” Vazquez said. “But the life on my pitches at least in this spring has been there, so I’m happy about that.”
Just saying no
It’s amazing how often players will switch representation just as they’re getting ready for free agency. This past offseason, Jayson Werth and Rafael Soriano switched to Scott Boras from other agents, and Boras rewarded the pair with immense contracts from Washington and the Yankees, respectively.
These changes often can result from a player listening to advice from one or more teammates, and recruiting often occurs. For instance, on the 2004 Astros, Roger Clemens attempted to convince Carlos Beltran to change from Boras to Clemens’ agents, Alan and Randy Hendricks. Beltran stuck with Boras, who got his client the seven-year, $119-million deal with the Mets.
In a similar vein, Victor Martinez heard pitches in the Red Sox clubhouse to switch from his longtime agents, Alan Nero and Scott Pucino. The designated hitter-catcher didn’t listen, and he wound up getting a four-year, $50-million deal from the Tigers.
“You have to have personality to do stuff like that,” Martinez said of switching agents. “You’ve been working with a group of guys for so many years. I don’t see any reason to change.”
Martinez found it simple to block out such pitches and the entire concept of being a free agents. Asked if he thought about his impending free agency last year, Martinez said, “Whoever says no is lying. It’s your future. It’s your family future. You have to be able to separate. If you’re not able to separate one or the other, you’re obviously going to have a tough time.”
Sharing the credit
Did you see the way the Phillies opened their season? Remarkable. They erased a 4-2 deficit against Houston in the ninth inning, scoring three runs for a walk-off 5-4 victory.
It seemed to speak to Philadelphia’s heart, its stick-to-itiveness. But I watched the game’s last few batters on television with a veteran baseball person, and this person put it in greater perspective.
“It was just that Lyon wasn’t locating his pitches,” the person said. “He left everything up.”
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