BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Blue Jays Sign Omar Vizquel

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Monday, January 23, 2012

Blue Jays Sign Omar Vizquel

And he’s tied with mighty Sam Mele (can’t get enough) with 80 career HR’s! HOF awaits!

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN tweets that Omar Vizquel has reached an agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays on a one-year deal. Vizquel, 44, appeared in 58 games with the Chicago White Sox in 2011, hitting .251/.287/.305 in 182 plate appearances. He played all around the infield, though mostly at third base and second base (180 and 130 innings respectively).

For his career, Vizquel has compiled 2841 hits and 401 stolen bases while spending time with the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and the Chicago White Sox. He’s currently at 42.3 wins above replacement.

Repoz Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:21 PM | 31 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: rays

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. Dock Ellis on Acid

Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:35 PM (#4043723)

This pleases me.

2. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:39 PM (#4043728)

Omar is 45? Jesus.

3. RJ in TO Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:40 PM (#4043729)

This baffles me.

4. Repoz

Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:45 PM (#4043733)

Vizquel tweets...

"Thhank y so much for your messages. it is confirm. I ll be with the toronto blue jays in spring training this year to earn a spot"

5. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:50 PM (#4043736)

Vizquel only needs 159 hits to get to 3,000. I think he can do it in six years, at this rate!

I-Rod is 3 hits ahead of Vizquel...who will end their career with more hits?

6. HollywoodHartman Posted: January 23, 2012 at 09:59 PM (#4043744)

Minor league deal with invite to Spring Training. Can't see him being better than McCoy at this point.

7. Crispix Attacks Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:05 PM (#4043750)

Who could have guessed, back in May 1992 when Bart tricked Milhouse into trading a Carl Yastrzemski card for an Omar Vizquel, that Vizquel would end up equalling or exceeding Yastrzemski's 23 seasons in the majors?

8. SG Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:10 PM (#4043754)

I guess now we know who AA will be trading to another team to get some good young player. I'm guessing he gets traded to the Pirates for Andrew McCutchen or something.

9. Good cripple hitter Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:30 PM (#4043780)

I was going to say "at least he'll be better than McCoy", but baseball reference disagrees with that sentiment.

The Jays now have signed Omar Vizquel, Chris Woodward, and Jeff Mathis to contracts. This offseason has been a bit of a letdown, that's for sure.

10. Crispix Attacks Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:39 PM (#4043786)

Hey, the Pirates won't do any deal like that unless we also get a 26-year-old fourth outfielder, and a 27-year-old pitching prospect, and can swap a random relief pitcher for a slightly better one.

11. Something Other Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:54 PM (#4043793)

I'd love to see the old man get to 3,000, but he's got no margin for error left. An OPS+ of 75 over his last 3 seasons. 61 last year. He's not worth keeping around at his current level of ability, and it's a little difficult to imagine him improving at this point.

It reminds me of Omar Minaya's stunt-casting of Julio Franco at 1B, that helped cost the Mets a shot at the postseason. Any team with any shot at all of contending would be ill-advised to get cute like that, and any team without a shot at contention surely has at least one longshot worth not blocking.

12. Roger Cedeno's Spleen Posted: January 23, 2012 at 10:55 PM (#4043796)

Are they going to pay him in brains? With the flesh of the living?

13. Matthew E Posted: January 23, 2012 at 11:02 PM (#4043798)

I can't wait to hear from all the dorks who will say that the Jays have finally done something right.

14. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 23, 2012 at 11:03 PM (#4043799)

Do the Jays face the Rox this season? I so want to see a Vizquel-Moyer matchup this year.

15. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: January 23, 2012 at 11:09 PM (#4043802)

Nope. We'll have to wait until 2013. Or 2023.

16. ajnrules Posted: January 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM (#4043843)

I'd love to see the old man get to 3,000, but he's got no margin for error left.

At the very least he can probably get the 26 hits he needs to pass Harold Baines for most hits by somebody not in the Hall of Fame.

17. Moldorf Posted: January 24, 2012 at 12:20 AM (#4043856)

Pete Rose and Rafael Palmeiro say hello.

18. ajnrules Posted: January 24, 2012 at 12:32 AM (#4043862)

Wow. Major fail on my part. Most hits by somebody eligible not in the Hall of Fame without a steroid taint then. (That should take care of Barry Bonds when he debuts on the ballot next year.)

19. The Yankee Clapper Posted: January 24, 2012 at 12:42 AM (#4043865)

Must be to block Vizquel from going to Boston!

20. Moldorf Posted: January 24, 2012 at 01:07 AM (#4043880)

It's late, Ajnrules, and your addendum works for me

21. Walt Davis Posted: January 24, 2012 at 01:15 AM (#4043884)

45 -- that's only about 8 centigrade, he's got plenty left.

22. Shock Posted: January 24, 2012 at 01:44 AM (#4043903)

I can't wait to hear from all the dorks who will say that the Jays have finally done something right.

No kidding.

It's FAntasy Baseball Logic. If we put enough crap up there it should almost add up to Darvish!

23. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: January 24, 2012 at 01:52 AM (#4043908)

At the very least he can probably get the 26 hits he needs to pass Harold Baines for most hits by somebody not in the Hall of Fame.

I've already pre-installed extra RAM on my computer, in anticipation of handling this website after Vizquel's election.

24. Jim (jimmuscomp) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 01:54 AM (#4043909)

The Jays now have signed Omar Vizquel, Chris Woodward, and Jeff Mathis to contracts. This offseason has been a bit of a letdown, that's for sure.

Dear God. I'm so sorry.

I lived through the entire Jeff Mathis era in LAAoA. Vizquel, with his awesome plate discipline, will resemble Teddy Ballgame after a month of Mathis "hitting" for your team.

25. Rants Mulliniks (formerly Cold Prosimian) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 08:47 AM (#4043956)

The Jays now have signed Omar Vizquel, Chris Woodward, and Jeff Mathis to contracts. This offseason has been a bit of a letdown, that's for sure.

Here here.

26. Greg (U)K Posted: January 24, 2012 at 08:58 AM (#4043960)

Since this is the closest we'll get to a Jays SS thread.

Is Hechevarria starting in AAA do you think? I'm not holding my breath waiting for him to ever be a real hitter, but miracles are always welcome.

27. Rants Mulliniks (formerly Cold Prosimian) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:14 AM (#4043987)

I would imagine he'll be in AAA until Sept., unless he hits so poorly that they send him back to AA. That's just my take though, I haven't heard anything from the front office.

28. Matthew E Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM (#4044014)

I wonder about Hechavarria. Empirically it seemed like he turned a corner in his last couple of weeks in New Hampshire last year and started hitting much better, and then continued it when he was promoted to AAA. I recall that someone ran the numbers and found that the hitters' parks of the PCL weren't a factor in his improved performance, although I also recall reading that he had an unusually high BABIP. Still, I'm going to be paying attention to the guy; there's a chance that he's figured something out.

29. Bob Evans Posted: January 24, 2012 at 02:54 PM (#4044340)

And he’s tied with mighty Sam Mele (can’t get enough) with 80 career HR’s!

Sam Mele's career high in doubles was 36. Omar Vizquel's career high in doubles is...36.

Creepy!

30. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 03:45 PM (#4044410)

I know nothing about Vizquel's personality or work ethic, but I like to think that he taught Elvis Andrus a lot during his stint in Texas. In any case, Andrus has been a very "finished" player, excellent on fundamentals and tactics, right from the start of his ML career – and Vizquel was his teammate then. So this may bode well for Hechevarria; though learning is always more the learner's responsibility than the teacher's, obviously.

31. Something Other Posted: January 25, 2012 at 06:18 PM (#4045717)

Do the Jays face the Rox this season? I so want to see a Vizquel-Moyer matchup this year.

Just to see the ball rolled to the plate, and then a swing as the ball is being thrown back to the pitcher? That's cold.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Monday, January 23, 2012

Blue Jays Sign Omar Vizquel

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

Bookmarks

Hot Topics