This is all just awful all around, and I hate that it winds up having baseball implications that we have to discuss.
First, the news:
BREAKING NEWS: #Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez arrested, charged with solicitation of a child, providing obscene material to minors.
Florida authorities say Vazquez sent a message to a 15-year-old girl suggesting they would meet for sex after the season. https://t.co/HhJTsxGrkw
— James Santelli (@JamesSantelli) September 17, 2019
Disturbing details from Lee County police on the arrest of Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, who is facing multiple charges. pic.twitter.com/zkHlrMcgEw
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 17, 2019
Awful. We’ll let the criminal system play out. Hopefully the victim is getting appropriate support now.
As for those baseball implications, again, unfortunately, they do bear discussion. Vazquez is one of the best, most impactful relievers in baseball, and now he will presumably be unavailable the rest of the season for the Pirates (and might be gone for good). That means the Cubs’ remaining three-game series against the Pirates – and the Brewers’ remaining three-game series against the Pirates – could be impacted by this news. The Cardinals, by contrast, do not play the Pirates again this year.
Vazquez, 28, was also involved, either directly or indirectly, in quite a bit of the bizarre internal drama in the Pirates’ clubhouse this year, including one fight that led to a teammate having surgery on his hand.