Former Pirate Sentenced To Prison For Sexually Assaulting 13-Year-Old

If former Pittsburgh Pirate Felipe Vazquez thought playing for perennial basement dweller Pittsburgh was rough, wait until he joins his next team. Vazquez will soon be wearing pinstripes, but not for the Yankees. The former pitcher was sentenced today for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, and now his stripes will come courtesy of the penal league.

In May, Vazquez was convicted in a Pennsylvania court on 15 counts stemming from the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, and he has now been sentenced to two to four years in prison. His convictions include counts of child pornography, sexual abuse of children, sexual assault, and corruption of minors.

Vazquez, a native of Venezuela, was arrested in September of 2019 after it was discovered he'd been involved in a sexual relationship with an underaged girl since 2017. At the time, Vazquez was still on the Pirates roster and had been coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons. Upon learning of his arrest, Pittsburgh immediately placed the closer on the restricted list. At the time, Vazquez had 28 saves and a 1.65 ERA. He was in the second season of a four-year contract worth more than $20 million.

In addition to the two to four years he'll spend behind bars, Vazquez was also handed two years of probation. Suddenly, playing for the Pirates doesn't sound so bad.