Article: What To Make Of Kennys Vargas

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I sometimes wonder why anyone who has watched these two play feel otherwise?

Yeah, I don't mind taking a flyer on Vargas, as he's still young enough to be a stopgap DH. If he can post a .780 OPS, that's fine for a spell.

 

Or if you can combine Vargas and Grossman to get .800 out of the DH spot in a platoon, that's even better.

 

But I think that's approaching a best case scenario.

[TheLeviathan]

 

I sometimes wonder why anyone who has watched these two play feel otherwise?

 

Well, I don't like Grossman much, but if we're going to heap praise on Mauer for his OBP it's worth pointing out that Grossman did provide that skill in droves.  Even if he also was a butcher in the field.  

 

With Vargas, I see things to like.  He's a player who looks willing to learn, adjust his approach, and try to get better.  I try not to judge players who aren't given adequate, consistent playing time too harshly.  And with young players I'm even more cautious.  I know you feel good about Max Kepler (and so do I) but if you started watching Max about halfway through August through the end of the year you'd also wonder why anyone would be high on him.  He was brutal in all phases.  Those things happen to young players.

 

I'm wiling to judge Vargas can't play or isn't a part of this team's future when I've seen a good, long stretch of playing time.  And he's only had one of those two years ago.

[birddog]

If the Twins were going after Napoli, I'd bet it were as much or more for his leadership than his bat. I have no idea what kind of leadership Vargas provides, but I like his bat from both sides of the plate and think he will hit close to 30 HRs and drive in 90+ runs if he gets 500 PAs. Yes, he will go through bad streaks at the plate as most power hitters do, but give him a chance to overcome his failures.

 

He is young enough that we have to find out what we have in him. If Sano proves he can handle 3B adequately, IMO Vargas is the logical choice for our long-term DH. I love our lineup with Sano and Vargas--especially back to back--and hope Molitor agrees with most of us that Mauer needs more days off.

[mikelink45]

I want Vargas to play.  I see the remainders on the DH/1B bargain shelf and want to run far away from any temptation.  If Vargas fails at least we know we have to move on, if we bring in someone for the scrap heap it is probably just a one year signing and we would still need to move on.  Palka hit a lot of home runs, but his K's are too frequent, we do not need to give away more AB's to a wild swinger unless Vargas fails. 

[jimmer]

 

Well, I don't like Grossman much, but if we're going to heap praise on Mauer for his OBP it's worth pointing out that Grossman did provide that skill in droves.  Even if he also was a butcher in the field.  

 

With Vargas, I see things to like.  He's a player who looks willing to learn, adjust his approach, and try to get better.  I try not to judge players who aren't given adequate, consistent playing time too harshly.  And with young players I'm even more cautious.  I know you feel good about Max Kepler (and so do I) but if you started watching Max about halfway through August through the end of the year you'd also wonder why anyone would be high on him.  He was brutal in all phases.  Those things happen to young players.

 

I'm wiling to judge Vargas can't play or isn't a part of this team's future when I've seen a good, long stretch of playing time.  And he's only had one of those two years ago.

My quote was about Park and Vargas.  I'm all for keeping Grossman for DH.

Edited February 11, 2017 by jimmer

[TheLeviathan]

 

My quote was about Park and Vargas.  I'm all for keeping Grossman for DH.

 

Huh, yeah, not sure where I pulled Grossman from.  My bad.  Park I understand misgivings about, he's 29.

[Aaron Cross]

I just can't be to optimistic about Vargas anymore. Maybe new hitting coach will be good for him?

[kab21]

 

I just can't be to optimistic about Vargas anymore. Maybe new hitting coach will be good for him?

Because of 200 PA's in 3 different seasons?

[Platoon]

 

 

He got jerked around by his manager last year, as did several other players. He seldom started against LH pitchers, even though he had a 1.262 OPS against them. And as has been noted on this thread and others, he seems to get benched when he's hitting well.

 

I think it would be foolish not give him a regular slot, whether that be as the 1B when a LH is pitching or to try him against everybody. Basically we do not yet know what he's capable of.

 

Vargas' use is one of the reasons I have no confidence in this manager at all.

And that "problem" remains! With guys like Vargas you have to decide whether they have the potential, and then let it come out. If a player looks at every AB as a boarding pass to Rochester, it's hard to hit!

[Riverbrian]

I just can't be to optimistic about Vargas anymore. Maybe new hitting coach will be good for him?

As long as the ball continues to leave his bat at 471 MPH... Optimism is easy.