Article: What To Make Of Kennys Vargas

[howieramone2]

I'd take Sano over Vargas at DH.

[laloesch]

I think it would be foolish to discard Vargas right now.  He is one of the few youngsters who is showing more displine at the plate after going through the growing pains of a sophomore slump.  I'd like to see what he could do with another full season under his belt in the role of DH/1B. If he could play almost everyday it would cue us into what our future needs might be.

[jctwins]

 

Speaking of first base,

 

I am eagerly awaiting our bi-annual tradition of celebrating Mauer's health!  We're probably 5 months away from that "Mauer feels like he's 19 again!" newspaper article and about 11 months from the "Mauer: I used a walker in the hallways between games but kept playing like a trooper" follow-up.

 

Play Vargas.

 

 

Nice way to work Mauer into this thread, too. LOL

[twinsnorth49]

A Vargas/Mauer platoon at 1st makes the most sense to me at this point. Give Kennys regular playing time and see if he puts it together. Park is always an option if he's tearing it up in AAA and Vargas struggles. 

[TheLeviathan]

 

A Vargas/Mauer platoon at 1st makes the most sense to me at this point. Give Kennys regular playing time and see if he puts it together. Park is always an option if he's tearing it up in AAA and Vargas struggles. 

 

 

What would you put as a playing time percentage?  70/30 Vargas?

 

[twinsnorth49]

 

 

 

What would you put as a playing time percentage?  70/30 Vargas?

 

Yep, 2 games a week is about right for Mauer at this stage. 

[KirbyDome89]

 

Agreed. I could see a role for Vargas if he mashed RHP as a LH hitter. An MLB career .693 OPS with a 30.7% K% as a LH hitter leaves very little to be desired. Add on top of that he's provides minimal defensive value... I'll take the chance on Park over Vargas.

I've defended the Park signing since it occurred, and I still think he can mash MLB pitching, but at this point he is still almost a complete unknown. A platoon of Vargas and Mauer at 1B is a good option to start the season. If Park destroys AAA then this rotation needs to be reexamined. 

[KirbyDome89]

 

Vargas's swing is like Arcia's--and he will be susceptible to fastballs up. I wonder if the new administration is like the previous with respect to "he's out of options--so put him on the team"?

 I think "We burned option years and consequently have little idea of what type of MLB player they will be.....so we must put him on the team," is a little more accurate. Hopefully the new regime places more value in options and consistent playing time. 

 

[gocgo]

I like Park (when healthy) over Vargas because he did play a pretty good first base.  However, unless I am misremembering (had to haul out the Clemens quote), Park didn't hit lefties worth a hoot.  So, maybe Vargas DH's against lefties, Park against righties, and they both do some subbing for Joe at 1B?  I realize that I just chewed up 3 roster spots for 3 part time players who play 1 position in the field which isn't ideal, but it also gives us a bopper bat off the bench.

Edited October 12, 2016 by gocgo

[Danchat]

Hmmm... so it seems the best fit for Vargas is as a lefties only platoon batter. Can Park hit righties well? Because then they'd form a solid combo. But I guess a Mauer-Vargas platoon wouldn't be bad either.

[Linus]

Let Vargas be the full time DH and play first when Joe's sits against lefties. That said I still think it is more likely that Vargas and Park don't turn out than both of them do turn out which seems to be what people are worried about.

[gil4]

 

Sometimes big guys take longer to get to their peak.  Age 28 or 29 before they have full motor control of a very large apparatus.

 

I remember a guy named Ortiz who played pretty well for the Twins, but was oft-injured and they let him go.

I think Ortiz was younger and better during his time with the Twins, but they let him go because he was blocked by Morneau. 

 

P.S. - Anyone who says they predicted at the time that Ortiz would be driving off into a Cooperstown sunset while Morneau would turn into ... whatever it is he turned into, a marginal player on a bad White Sox team - is either a liar or the biggest pessimist ever.

[Mr. Brooks]

I think Ortiz was younger and better during his time with the Twins, but they let him go because he was blocked by Morneau.

 

P.S. - Anyone who says they predicted at the time that Ortiz would be driving off into a Cooperstown sunset while Morneau would turn into ... whatever it is he turned into, a marginal player on a bad White Sox team - is either a liar or the biggest pessimist ever.

Justin Morneau had yet to play a game above AA at the time they let Ortiz go.

Not sure how he was blocking Ortiz.

[Riverbrian]

Justin Morneau hit the majors in 2003... the first year of Ortiz in Boston. Morneau consideration certainly could have been part of the decision. 

 

Dougie M was the everyday 1st baseman. 

 

I remember it like it was 14 years ago. 

[jorgenswest]

Neither split sample is enough to draw a conclusion about Vargas' ability to hit left and right handed batters. It takes a large sample for slash stats to become reliable - particularly those chunked over the first three years of a career.

 

Did you know that in each of the last three years in the minors he hit better against right handed pitching than left? At Rochester last year, he had an OPS of 926 against right handed pitching and 484 against left handed pitching. Over the last three year he has been better against right handed pitching when combining majors and minors. That doesn't mean anything either except to point out the need for a large sample to make sense of situational slash stats.

 

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=573627#/splits/R/hitting/2016/MINORS

[TheLeviathan]

 

Neither split sample is enough to draw a conclusion about Vargas' ability to hit left and right handed batters. It takes a large sample for slash stats to become reliable - particularly those chunked over the first three years of a career.

Did you know that in each of the last three years in the minors he hit better against right handed pitching than left? At Rochester last year, he had an OPS of 926 against right handed pitching and 484 against left handed pitching. Over the last three year he has been better against right handed pitching when combining majors and minors. That doesn't mean anything either except to point out the need for a large sample to make sense of situational slash stats.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=573627#/splits/R/hitting/2016/MINORS

 

Yup, let the kid hit.  If Mauer or Park has more at-bats than him next year, it's a mistake.  (Barring Vargas having an OPS below .600, if it's above that, there is no excuse for him to get less at-bats than either of them)