Kennys Vargas

Kennys Vargas Gautier was born on August 1, 1990 in Puerto Rico.

He went undrafted in 2008, and signed with the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 2009. Vargas was never seen as a blue chip prospect for much of his minor league career, but had a breakout campaign with the New Britain Rock Cats (AA) in 2014. Vargas slashed .281/.360/.472 with 63 RBI over 93 games, earning a roster spot in the Futures Game at Target Field that July. He skipped Triple-A and made his Major League debut that August.

Vargas had a two run double off of Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale in his big league debut. He hit a three run homer against Jesse Hahn of the San Diego Padres four days later, providing every run Minnesota scored in a 3-1 win. He quickly became the Twins everyday designated hitter, serving in that role for the final two months. He slashed .274/.316/.456 in 53 games, hitting nine home runs and driving in 39.

Minnesota expected Vargas to be a big part of their offense in 2015, but he wasn't able to carry over his success from the prior campaign. Vargas slashed .172/.232/.234 while playing almost everyday in April, and was eventually optioned back to the minors in mid-May. He returned for short stints throughout the season whenever the Twins had an open roster spot, finishing the year with a .626 OPS and five home runs in 58 games. This included a walk-off home run against Carlos Villanueva of the St. Louis Cardinals on June 18th.

He spent the first three months of 2016 in Triple-A, posting a .785 OPS for the Rochester Red Wings. The Twins called him up in early July, and Vargas wasted no time making an impact. He hit five doubles and three home runs in his first six games back at the big league level, winning American League Player of the Week honors for the week of July 4-10th. Vargas finished the year slashing .230/.333/.500 with ten home runs and 20 RBI over 47 games for the Twins.

The Twins optioned Vargas to Triple-A at the end of camp in 2017, but he was back at the big league level by late April. Vargas went up-and-down multiple times throughout the year, but still wound up playing in a career high 78 big league games. He slashed .253/.314/.444 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI. Minnesota did not include him on their roster for the 2017 AL Wild Card Game.

Vargas was designated for assignment during the off-season, and the Cincinnati Reds claimed him off of waivers. Cincinnati designated him for assignment a few days later, and he was re-claimed by Minnesota. The Twins designated him for assignment for the second time just a day later. This time, Vargas cleared waivers and began the 2018 season in Rochester. He had a .752 OPS in 130 games for the Red Wings, and was never called upon for big league duties.

The Japanese based Chiba Lotte Marines signed him for the 2019 season. Vargas struggled in Japan, batting .179 and getting released after just 35 games. He signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers in 2020, but the minor league season wound up getting canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vargas has played for various professional teams in Mexico since 2021. As of 2025, he is playing for Acereros de Monclova.

• 2014 Sherry Robertson Award
  • Twins most outstanding farm system position player
• 1x American League Player of the Week
  • July 4-10, 2016
• One of five Twins to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game
  • Roy Smalley, Chili David, Ryan Doumit and Jorge Polanco