I'm happy with this one. They needed another solid catcher.

Hmmm. Only 5 Vazquezes in MLB history, I woulda guessed more. All with decent careers though:

Javier 43 WAR, 2840 IP
Christian 7 in >2600 PA, 8 seasons
The one every Vaquez would like to forget with 8 WAR in 330 relief IP
Ramon 1 in >2200 PA, parts of 9 seasons
Armando (NeL) 0 in 200 PA, parts of 5 seasons

Only 5 Vazquezes in MLB history

Q: How many Beniquezes were there in MLB history?

A: Just Juan.

This is a move that sounds great grouped with resigning Correa and either supplementing the rotation or improving the pen. Otherwise, treading water.

Very happy for Vazquez. As a Red Sox fan who has followed him since he entered the farm system, he has always been a fan favorite, always working, improved as a hitter over time, solid defensive catcher, perceived as a team leader...I am really happy that he is getting a pretty nice pay day on the other side of 30.

Hmmm. Only 5 Vazquezes in MLB history, I woulda guessed more.

6 Vasquezes, though, which always trips me up.

Wait, 3yr/$30mil total? He's a starter, right? That almost seems too low to be real in this market. I know the reasons why not to pay him more, but between this and Contreras also coming in a bit lower than maybe anticipated, are catchers underpaid (relative to other FA)?

I was thinking 3/$30 was high. :-) (well, too long more than high) But I under-rate Vazquez and he's been much more of a starter than I realized -- 521, 498 and 426 PA in his last 3 full seasons. Still, over these 3 seasons, probably expect something like 1200 PA and 4-5 WAR. I don't think we've seen many short-term position player signings yet, it's not clear to me that the lower-end has moved much.

The Vasquezes aren't adding too much:

Anthony ... yikes 29 IP, 8.90 ERA, -1.4 WAR
Esmerling 0 in 168 IP
Virgil -1 in 61 IP
Rafael 0 in 16 IP
Jorge 0 in 12 IP
Andrew ... now this really is kind of amazing ... 0 WAR in 15 IP is not eye-catching but those 15 IP are spread across bits of 4 seasons for 4 different teams. We have found our fungible replacement pitcher!

So all Vasquezes are pitchers and have so far totaled 301 innings and about -2 WAR. Of course a track record like that probably still gets you 2/$10 on the reliever market these days.