The Red Sox appear to have some serious interest in Javier Vazquez.
The 36-year-old right-hander is spending this offseason pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League and, after spending the 2012 season out of baseball, is seriously raising his stock suiting up for Criollos de Caguas. The Red Sox had scouts in Puerto Rico for Vazquez’s last start, in which he was clocked throwing 93 miles per hour.
Vazquez pitched again on Wednesday night, and according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, Boston had scouts in attendance again. Presumably they liked what they saw, as Vazquez yielded just one run on six hits in six innings of work, striking out 10, according to Top Prospect Alert.
Vazquez is not without other suitors, however. Rosenthal also reported that Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was in attendance Wednesday, as were scouts from the White Sox. Vazquez is one of a number of pitchers trying to make a comeback after spending a year out of baseball.
Both #WhiteSox and #RedSox also scouted Javier Vazquez tonight.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2013
And Vazquez’s manager, former major leaguer Alex Cora, just tweeted in Spanish that Vazquez threw 95 mph on his 83rd pitch.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2013
