Good Bye, and Good Riddance

I liked Javier Vasquez. He had great stuff, and was full of potential. He also may have single-handedly caused my blood pressure to double.

You see, Javy had good stuff. Hell, 25% of the time I'd say he had great stuff. The problem is that (1) he never seemed to have great stuff when the game really mattered; and (2) the other 75% of the time he might as well have been throwing batting practice to opposing batters.

In 2008, he pitched 208.3 innings. During that span, he gave up 214 hits and 61 walks. Yeah, the 200 Ks were nice, but not when compared with his other negative aspects.

In retrospect, I think one of the reasons I liked Javier stemmed from my almost limitless faith in Don Cooper's ability to turn troubled pitches around, e.g. Jose Contreras, and Bad Bobby Jenks. One of the reasons I like the trade--apart from the fact the Sox are dumping $23 million--is that I am fully confident that Javier will be a bust for the Braves. If he couldn't get his act together, and harness his prodigous talent in Chicago, it just isn't going to happen.

The loss of Boone Logan is a different story. Boone Logan's metoric rise from non-roster invitee to spring training in 2006, to the show in the same year. Logan was almost almost untoubable under the Arizona sun. While his performances for the Sox left much to be desired, he will be missed. Then again, I'm not sure what kind of spot he had in the current Sox bullpen going into 2009.