Troy Renck now reports the Colorado Rockies have added another pitcher to their free agent pitcher list:
In talking to multiple sources today I have confirmed Rockies have interest in Javier Vazquez, though his preference is to pitch back east
Troy Renck, Rockies
TroyRenck
Vazquez had a down season in 2010 when he returned to the New York Yankees. He put up an 80 ERA+, a 5.32 ERA and a 1.398 WHIP. He has a career 39 percent groundball rate, which wouldn’t play too well in Coors Field.
However, Vazquez has succeeded better in the National League, where he has spent the majority of his career. With the Braves in 2009, he finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting after posting a 15-10 record (but who cares about that?), a 2.87 ERA and a 143 ERA+.
Given his desire to remain on the East Coast, Vazquez seems to be a bit of a reach for the Rockies to pursue. As reported yesterday, the Rockies are also interested in Jake Westbrook, Jon Garland and Hiroki Kuroda. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that the Rockies will be unable to sign Jorge De La Rosa.