Javier Vazquez

As the Philadelphia Phillies' season came to an abrupt end against the Giants in the NLCS, the offseason went about itself the next day.

We have already seen J.C. Romero's $4.5 million option not picked up and heard from Jayson Werth about him testing the free agent waters. All odds are pointing toward him not being in a Philadelphia uniform in 2011. With that being said, there are definitely some needs that this Phillies team has to address, and the most likely way to address that is through free agency.

That's right, I said it.  Javier Vazquez would be a great fit for the New York Mets.  Last year, Vazquez was less than stellar for the Yankees.  He just couldn't seem to get it going, but when he finally did, he did it in Citi Field.

During the Subway Series, Vazquez pitched one of the best games of his not-so-good season.  It seemed as if Vazquez benefited from the spacious dimensions of Citi Field.  He was throwing strikes and was keeping the ball in the park. 

Ever since Javier Vazquez made a name for himself in 2004, after giving up a grand slam to Johnny Damon in the American League Championship series, Yankee fans have dreaded the sight of the right-hander on the mound. 

When the Yankees traded for Vazquez in the 2009 offseason, mixed feelings were going around. He was coming off an incredible, Cy-Young worthy season, during which he recorded a 2.87 ERA for the Braves, but Yankee fans still had a hollow spot in their hearts for Vazquez.

You might not know it, but Javier Vazquez has been one of the most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball since 2000.

He has pitched for the second-most innings with 2,320.1 innings, and is second in strikeouts with 2,122.

Vazquez cost the Yankees $11.5 million with the most awful year of his career this season: 10-10, 5.32 ERA, 157.1 IP, 32 HR.

The New York Yankees need a fourth starter for the ALCS. But the one they named was wrong. It should not have been A.J. Burnett, but rather Ivan Nova.

Nova, whom the Yankees refused to trade, was a major reason that they didn't get Cliff Lee from the Mariners midseason. He has since justified their retaining him. Except for one very bad start that skewed his respectable 4.50 ERA upward, he has been quite a serviceable pitcher both as a starter and a reliever. And he's only 23, in his first season.

Throughout the 2010 season, the New York Yankees had many pitching issues.  Like with A.J. Burnett, he was about as frustrating a pitcher you can come across.  What about Andy Pettitte, going down with an injury mid-season and forcing a spot-starter to go in his place.

And then there's Javier Vasquez.  After starting the season much like Chien Ming-Wang did last year, Vasquez had a stretch when he was as good as anyone pitching on a mound.

While the playoffs are now on the front burner, in the back of every baseball fan's mind, or the front if your team has been eliminated from contention, is what moves the team will make this offseason.

Free agency is always a hot bed for debate, and every year there will be a fair share of diamonds in the rough as well as big time busts. Often times, contracts are a sign of the free agent class as a whole and not necessarily what the player is worth. Once the top tier guys start to get signed, teams that missed out often overpay for second tier guys, and so on.

The 2010 Atlanta Braves ended their season with a line-up that had seven different starters from the one that ended the 2009 season.

Brain McCann was the only stable.

Through off-season trades, signings and in-season trades, Braves General Manager Frank Wren, significantly redesigned the team's roster.

It wasn’t exactly the b-squad starting for the Yankees, but they did rest a few of their regulars as Javier Vazquez got bombed by the Blue Jays en route to a 8-4 loss the day after they clinched a playoff spot.

Here are some highlights:

After clinching a playoff berth on Tuesday, Yankees' manager Joe Girardi did a little rearranging in his pitching rotation. The Yankees pushed scheduled starter Andy Pettitte back until Friday, likely lining him up better for the postseason.