"How badly did the Marlins want starter Javier Vazquez? They dispensed with one of their fundamental tenets of contract negotiations to get him.

According to a source familiar with the deal, the club and Vazquez on Sunday agreed to a one-year, $7 million contract that includes a no-trade clause. Hanley Ramirez didn't get one. Neither did Josh Johnson or John Buck or any other player this front office has signed to a one-year or multi-year contract. The Marlins have held fast to their policy of not budging on no-trade provisions until now.

Giving Vazquez the peace of mind he would be a Marlin for all of 2011 likely was the only way to fit him into the 2011 budget. The right-hander reportedly turned down some two-year offers to play for the Marlins and Puerto Rican countryman Edwin Rodriguez.

Vazquez, whose deal will become official sometime this week, joins a rotation that already features All-Star Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. Back in the National League where he's enjoyed the most success, Vazquez is the innings-eating veteran the Marlins have lacked in recent years.

The front office, Rodriguez and pitching coach Randy St. Claire all know Vazquez well. Both from the city of Ponce, Rodriguez watched Vazquez pitch in Puerto Rico as a teenager. Vazquez played for the Jeffrey Loria-owned Montreal Expos in 2000-01, when both President David Samson and President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest were running that organization before they joined Loria in South Florida.

St. Claire was Vazquez's pitching coach in 2002-03, the two seasons he topped the 230-inning mark. From 2000-09, Vazquez totaled 200 innings each year with the exception of 2004, when he fell two innings shy of that plateau as a member of the Yankees."