Reds Claim Kennys Vargas off Waivers

[Nick Nelson]

Via Dustin Morse. 

 

I was really hoping to see Vargas land someplace he could get 500 AB and show what he's really capable of. Obviously that'll be impossible in Cincy barring a major injury to Joey Votto, so this is disappointing. But at least he's on a major-league roster.

 

Wishing Kennys all the best.

[operation mindcrime]

Good luck Kennys! \m/

[slash129]

This doesn't make any sense ... I bet he gets DFA'd again within a week. Otherwise, he'll get to DH against the Twins at the end of April. We can use our free hats to catch his HRs.

[Doubles]

Kinda surprising to see an NL team pick him up.  Hope he does well, hope he finds success in the bigs.

[nicksaviking]

That seems like a good fit. They're in the AL and have a terrible 1B right?

 

Maybe this is the new waiver shenanigan. You claim a guy you know Korea or Japan want then bank the inevitable trade money once you tell him he's going to continue to be in DFA limbo if he chooses to stay.

[Shaitan]

Does the waiver wire go by league, AL then NL, in the offseason and sprint training? I'm just curious if this means no AL team was interested first.

 

[PseudoSABR]

 

Does the waiver wire go by league, AL then NL, in the offseason and sprint training? I'm just curious if this means no AL team was interested first.

Yes, that's what it means.

[Lee-The-Twins-Fan]

From what i understand, it goes by team record first - regardless of league.

 

[dave_dw]

Expect Votto to win the 1B job for Cincinnati.

[Vanimal46]

From what i understand, it goes by team record first - regardless of league.

Mike Berardino confirms.

 

https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/976886360274620418?s=19

[bird]

Vargas: "Howdy. Jest passin' thru. Sayonara. "

[Twodogs]

Maybe cinci will use him in a trade for something else?

[Tom Froemming]

 

Does the waiver wire go by league, AL then NL, in the offseason and sprint training? I'm just curious if this means no AL team was interested first.

I believe this is how waivers work from May through the August waiver trade period. But it sounds like during the offseason through April, waiver order is based on the previous season records, no AL/NL split.

 

Who the hell came up with this stuff?

[DuluthFan]

 

I believe this is how waivers work from May through the August waiver trade period. But it sounds like during the offseason through April, waiver order is based on the previous season records, no AL/NL split.

 

Who the hell came up with this stuff?

 

This is a remnant of the leagues being separate. A player being waived during the season is offered to other teams in the same league (AL vs NL) before being offered up to another league.

[Otto von Ballpark]

The only waiver priority that prioritizes league over record is August trade waivers. Makes sense, because those claims are generally about blocking trades to competitors in your own league.

 

All other waivers -- outright or release, all year round -- ignore league (except as a tiebreaker for teams with the same record).

 

https://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3525

 

And until the end of April, last year's standings are used. Starting in May, 2018 standings will be used. But league is still only a tiebreaker, in either case.

[twins_89]

I wish MLB would make a change so that teams couldn't claim players and then turn around and waive them again within a couple of weeks (which the Vargas situation looks like). A team that claims a player off of waivers should have to keep them on the 40 man roster (or 25 man roster if out of options) for a reasonable length of time. It doesn't seem fair to the player to spend an extended time repeatedly going through the waiver process.

[Tom Froemming]

 

The only waiver priority that prioritizes league over record is August trade waivers. Makes sense, because those claims are generally about blocking trades to competitors in your own league.

All other waivers -- outright or release, all year round -- ignore league (except as a tiebreaker for teams with the same record).

https://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3525

And until the end of April, last year's standings are used. Starting in May, 2018 standings will be used. But league is still only a tiebreaker, in either case.

Ah, thank you! These things are as difficult to find as they are complicated.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Maybe cinci will use him in a trade for something else?

 

I think it's more likely that Cincy has plans on trading Votto... 

[James]

 

I think it's more likely that Cincy has plans on trading Votto... 

That might be difficult with his no-trade clause.  He's stated many times that he wants to stay in Cincy as well.  We'll see though.

 

See ya, Multiple Kenny!  I'll miss using that name.

[Shaitan]

 

I wish MLB would make a change so that teams couldn't claim players and then turn around and waive them again within a couple of weeks (which the Vargas situation looks like). A team that claims a player off of waivers should have to keep them on the 40 man roster (or 25 man roster if out of options) for a reasonable length of time. It doesn't seem fair to the player to spend an extended time repeatedly going through the waiver process.

 

What's the solution though? It's not fair to the player to be stuck on a team that doesn't want them either.

[Mike Sixel]

That is not what I expected.

[twins_89]

 

What's the solution though? It's not fair to the player to be stuck on a team that doesn't want them either.

 

The best option would be for waived players to either become free agents or to be claimed by a team willing to give them a real chance (where they won't be waived again immediately). The current waiver process where guys can be waived multiple times effectively placing them in limbo for a long stretch can really hurt fringe guys like Vargas.

[Otto von Ballpark]

The best option would be for waived players to either become free agents or to be claimed by a team willing to give them a real chance (where they won't be waived again immediately). The current waiver process where guys can be waived multiple times effectively placing them in limbo for a long stretch can really hurt fringe guys like Vargas.

If you make it harder to claim him, though, you just make it more likely that Vargas gets outrighted off the 40-man roster to the minors, with a lower salary, worse benefits, further from the majors, etc.

 

It's a trade-off -- the potential to send him outright to AAA later actually inflates Vargas's current value a bit, so teams are more willing to give him extra MLB time/money/benefits right now. Just a few weeks on a MLB regular season roster is probably more valuable than letting him choose what AAA club to play for. (Although he could get that choice in the not too distant future too -- he will likely be able to declare free agency in the next year or two if he doesn't stick on an MLB roster.)

[Monkeypaws]

They waived Kenny_s!

[TheLeviathan]

Stinks for Kennys, hopefully he still lands somewhere he can get regular ABs.

[Riverbrian]

They need pinch hitters in the National League. They get a cheap one with serious home run potential.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaitan]

 

The best option would be for waived players to either become free agents or to be claimed by a team willing to give them a real chance (where they won't be waived again immediately). The current waiver process where guys can be waived multiple times effectively placing them in limbo for a long stretch can really hurt fringe guys like Vargas.

 

I agree that sitting in limbo doesn't help anybody, but there's no way to enforce the part I put in bold above. And there shouldn't be. If the league starts creating rules mandating playing time, well, I can't even imagine such a thing.

 

What is "give a real chance"? It's arbitrary. I'd say Vargas already had a real chance. He has 800 MLB at bats. Obviously, many people disagree with that or we wouldn't have 801 TwinsDaily discussions about it.

 

I don't have any solution. It's not a perfect situation for Vargas, but the fact of the matter with most players in limbo like this is simply that they're marginal MLB talents, typically on the outside looking in. How many players does this happen to each year, maybe a half dozen? That's a tiny fraction of MLB's overall roster.

 

[Monkeypaws]

 

They need pinch hitters in the National League. They get a cheap one with serious home run potential.

That is a good point - he might fit well in the Reds overall bench plan: relieve Votto on occasion, get those PH at bats. Not gonna be the 500 ABs people here think he needs, but useful, esp. for cheap. 

[Rosterman]

He should've had the Twins explore Far East sales.

 

But, no doubt, the new tariff may be too high.

 

[Riverbrian]

 

That is a good point - he might fit well in the Reds overall bench plan: relieve Votto on occasion, get those PH at bats. Not gonna be the 500 ABs people here think he needs, but useful, esp. for cheap. 

 

And Votto could get hurt. 

 

Vargas was released by the Twins. If he was going to be picked up... it was probably going to be a back up role.