Javier Carlos Vázquez (born July 25, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball starting pitcher.

He played for the Montreal Expos (1998–2003), New York Yankees (2004, 2010), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005), Chicago White Sox (2006–2008), Atlanta Braves (2009), and Florida Marlins (2011).

[1] Vázquez claims that he dislikes being the center of attention outside of the playing field and describes himself as a 'house man' spending his free time with his children.

[1] Vázquez is also interested in art pieces especially the ones that are produced by Puerto Rican artists and he possesses paintings by Wichie Torres and Iván Rosario.

[2] The same year, he began his professional career with the team's Rookie-level club in West Palm Beach, Florida, the GCL Expos.

[3] Vázquez made his Major League debut for the Expos on April 3, 1998, against the Chicago Cubs, pitching five innings of three-run ball in the 6–2 loss.

[6] Vázquez was the losing pitcher when David Cone, of the New York Yankees, pitched a perfect game against the Expos on July 18, 1999.

He was thought of as a promising young pitcher,[11] and pitched the team's third game on April 5 against the Dodgers, striking out five batters while allowing two earned runs on eight hits across seven innings in a 6–5 Expos win.

In the wake of injuries to pitchers Matt Blank, Mike Thurman and Hideki Irabu, Vázquez's 2.79 ERA, good for fourth-best in the NL, was noted as a key part to their success.

[13] After a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles and a win against the New York Yankees, the Expos were at 31–23, good for second place behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, and third in the entire National League.

During his June 6 start, under pressure, Vázquez struck out seven batters in six innings, but he also walked four and gave up a home run to Bernie Williams in an 8–1 loss to the Yankees.

[15] By 2001, Vázquez had become the ace of the Expos pitching staff thought of as a "bright young star and an All-Star for years to come.

[17] He pitched better in his next start, the home opener at Olympic Stadium, striking out nine without issuing any walks across seven shutout innings in a 10–0 rout of the New York Mets.

[6] Regarded as one of the league's top pitchers, he signaled to then GM Omar Minaya that he might not resign with the Expos, a team then threatened with contraction.

"[21] On December 4, 2003, the New York Yankees agreed to acquire Vázquez from the Expos in exchange for Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera and Randy Choate.

[24] After starting the season 9–5 with a 3.50 ERA, Vázquez was named a 2004 All-Star, replacing Oakland Athletics pitcher Tim Hudson.

[26] On January 11, 2005, the Yankees traded Vázquez, Brad Halsey, and Dioner Navarro to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Randy Johnson.

[32] After pitching the 2005 season with Arizona, Vázquez formally requested a trade from the team, asking for a location which was "easier for his family in Puerto Rico to visit.

"[33] On December 20, 2005, Vázquez was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Orlando Hernández, Luis Vizcaíno, and Chris Young.

[6] Vázquez agreed to play for the Puerto Rico Team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, joining fellow Puerto Rican players Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltrán, Bernie Williams, amongst others representing the island in a team managed by St. Louis Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo.

[35] The only season that he was not able to work this quantity of innings was in 2004 when Joe Torre, then manager of the New York Yankees decided to jump some turns in the team's rotation.

[40] On December 4, 2008, Vázquez was traded along with Boone Logan to the Atlanta Braves for minor league catcher Tyler Flowers, shortstop Brent Lillibridge, third baseman Jon Gilmore and pitcher Santos Rodriguez.

"[66] Poet Carson Cistulli once wrote that "Javier Vázquez's curvepiece makes me a Better Man"[67] He featured two types of changeups: "one that darts like a cutter and one that resembles a screwball".

[71] This was statistically confirmed in September by Eric Seidman: "from June 11 until now, Vazquez threw his fastball 53 percent of the time, and the pitch averaged 91.1 mph, right in line with his career".

[72] Vázquez was hired as an international special assistant to Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark on April 30, 2014.