Former Blue Jays' pitcher signs with Mexican League's Tecolotes De Los Dos Laredos

Vasquez can walk away from the deal if he receives interest from a big league club, with the Tecolotes owing nothing in buyout fees.

You may remember Andrew Vasquez from his brief stint with the Blue Jays. The Jays acquired Vasquez from the Dodgers in 2022.

He's a hard-throwing lefty, throwing a sinker, slider and curve. He gets a lot of strikeouts, but gives up a lot of walks. But then he's only thrown 6.2 MLB innings.

Vasquez was quickly designated for assignment when he posted an 8.10 ERA with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings for the Blue Jays that season.

The Philadelphia Philles claimed the lefty shortly there afterward.

Vasquez has logged 63 2/3 career innings over five MLB seasons, with the large majority of that action coming when he pitched 48 1/3 frames for the Phillies and Tigers in 2023.

His bottom-line results of a 3.35 ERA were solid, though his strikeout (19.6%) and walk (10.5%) rates were both subpar, and his performance fell off drastically after he went to the Tigers on a waiver claim.

Philadelphia opted to designate Vasquez for assignment just after the trade deadline in order to clear roster space, despite Vasquez's 2.27 ERA in 39 2/3 innings for the club.

After struggling to an 8.31 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with his new team, Vasquez returned to the Tigers last winter on a minors contract and spent the entire 2024 campaign at Triple-A Toledo.

Vasquez's situation wasn't helped by a lack of minor league options, but he didn't make much of a case for promotion after posting a 5.11 ERA, 19.4% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate over 68 2/3 innings with Toledo.

This stint in the Mexican League marks the first time in Vasquez's pro career (which began as a 32nd-round pick for the Twins in 2015) that he has pitched outside of affiliated baseball.

The 31-year-old should find more of a regular role with the Tecolotes than he would in battling amongst other minor league signings withing a Major League team's camp, and his contract's out clause allows Vazquez some flexibility if he pitches well enough to attract attention from MLB scouts.