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Phillies Acquire Jason Vargas

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4:46pm: The move is official. The Phillies designated righty Yacksel Rios to open a 40-man spot.

3:51pm: The Phillies have reportedly struck a deal to acquire veteran lefty Jason Vargas from the Mets. Catcher Austin Bossart is going to the New York organization in the swap. The Mets will cover the larger portion of the remaining contractual obligation to Vargas, ultimately saving $2MM.

This long-anticipated trade of Vargas clears a rotation spot for just-acquired righty Marcus Stroman. Though Vargas is far senior to Stroman in age and MLB service, they’re in similar contract situations. The former is earning $8MM this year with a $8MM club option. The latter is taking down a $7.4MM salary in 2019 and stands to earn a nice raise on that amount in the offseason, when he’ll go through the arbitration process for the final time. Viewed in the aggregate, the Mets will still end up taking on added salary (and giving up prospect capital), though they did get $1.5MM in salary relief as part of the Stroman swap. The New York org will remain on the hook for what’s left of Vargas’s remaining 2019 salary along with a $250K assignment bonus. The Phillies will be responsible for a $2MM buyout on the option.

It’s not surprising to see Vargas on the move. It’s mostly a salary-saving transaction, designed to help partially offset the new obligations to Stroman. The 26-year-old Bossart won’t really make up for the prospects sent to the Blue Jays. He’s in the midst of a rough campaign, his second at the Double-A level. In his 236 trips to the plate, he’s slashing just .195/.303/.335 with seven home runs.

The more interesting question for the Mets is whether any of the club’s other starters will end up following Vargas out the door. While there has never been any indication that the club is considering offers on Jacob deGrom, it is said to be interesting in moving Zack Wheeler and/or Noah Syndergaard. The latter two starters are indeed still on the block, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.

There are questions, too, from the Phillies’ perspective. It seems fair to assume that Vargas will step into the rotation, though it’s not clear where the opening will come from. And it remains to be seen whether the club will also pursue other pitching upgrades.

Vargas, 36, won’t exactly be a marquee addition for the Phils, but he ought to help hold firm up the staff down the stretch. The soft-tossing southpaw has somehow managed to keep opposing hitters off balance despite averaging less than 85 mph with his fastball. He has bounced back from a terrible start to the season and steadily delivered solid work. He carries a 4.01 ERA through 94 1/3 frames, with 7.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Andy Martino of SNY.tv first reported that a deal involving Vargas was close (via Twitter). ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported that the Phillies were the acquiring team (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman of MLB Network (in a tweet) reported on the return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted that the Mets would be covering some of the remaining cost, with Sherman tweeting the financial details.

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Comments

  2. hahahahahahha the Crew gonna have Jason Dang Vargas on their squad. This is great.

  4. Oh. Who could be the team? My guess is the Phillies or Yankees. No one can be ruled out.

    4

    • Bingo. I was right. This is good for the Phillies. Two consecutive trades since last year. Last year, Asdrubal Cabrera was traded to the Phillies and now Vargas. Hopefully, he can continue pitching well for his new team now. Let’s go Phillies.

      • How you gonna root for Phillies while having the Cards picture?

        • Me. Do you have a problem with that? Well, deal with it because let me tell you that my favorite teams are Cardinals, Phillies, Rangers and Rays. That is a simple explanation for you can understand that you can like more than one team.

        • Why can’t someone like more than one team? Is the a written rule somewhere that forbids liking multiple teams?

          3

        • With all the haters talking about baseball dying I’m always supportive of good fans but yea u kinda have to pick one and then jus have the rest as teams to root for in the playoffs when ur favorite squad sucks, although I admit it’s hard to relate to people living in the boring/no pro-sports states if that’s ur case

        • No, but considering the history between STL and PHL (especially 2011), that pairing is odd.

        • Yeah, me too – my favorite teams last year were the Red Sox, Patriots, Raptors, and Blues.

          If anybody wants a good deal on 2017 Warriors or Capitals swag let me know

          7

        • Yes, I have a problem with that. It’s very cringy. I’ve seen a lot of your posts
          and I’m glad someone brought that up, because as a matter of fact, you compliment and sing the praises of the Phillies more so than you do your own team. Even the other teams you list I’ve never seen you more giddy over than Philly. You’re either incredibly young or very strange. Either way you do you, I guess.

        • (Favorite : Preferred before ALL others of the same kind.) You can like 4 mlb teams but I’m afraid you can only have 1 favorite.

          1

        • gronk……
          Then explain the often used word “favorites” such as “While I wait I will play some music, 20 of my favorites.

        • Rooting for 4 teams means you really don’t like anyone that much, Since these teams do play each other it is pretty silly to root for 4 teams.And having a Cardinal picture and then saying you root for 3 other teams is just stupid

      • Vargas has been pitching really well (for him) this year. He has been a more than servicable #5 and on many teams he’d be a surprising #4. I thought he should have retired after last years showing, but he bounced back. No idea about the PHI prospect, but they are getting a perfectly serviceable back-end starter.

        • Bossart’s numbers up until this season weren’t too bad could just be a case of dissapointment due to the lack of a promotion. either way, he’s an ivy (U Penn) guy, so he could always end up in the FO.

        • He’s been a backup catcher in a system that hasn’t really developed any good catchers.

          But he’s going to the Mets,so he’ll probably be the 1 drafted Phillies catcher to become serviceable

  11. Reds are reported to be suitor … shipping Scooter Ginnett to Mets along with cash

  15. What the hell are the Mets doing? I am starting to believe they hired Matt Millen into their front office or something.

    4

    • No. Please God, no. Please tell me they didn’t just ship out perennial MVP Vargas.

      • And the Wilpon Apologists are out again.

        They traded a useful starter to save 2 million and you will defend it because you can’t get enough of licking wilpons boots

    • Nice comparison. I actually liked yesterday’s trade with Toronto but in this market with so many teams looking for pitching, I’m shocked the team traded with a divisional rival for nothing but salary relief.

    • Any move made by the Mets REQUIRES the blessing of Jeff Wilpon, the idiot son of the Mets patriarch and Madoff benefactor…Fred Wilpon.

      1

    • That’s a joke right? Like it makes no sense from any perspective… Why would the Red Sox want another #5 SP? Especially after just acquiring Cashner? And also like there’s 0 chance they deal JBJ – nevermind deal him for a rental #5 starter… I’ve just got to assume your kidding…

      • I’d actually say Jeff you are wrong. It would definitely make sense from a Mets perspective.

  18. ESPN reporting Mets receiving Scooter Ginnett and Sal Romano for Jason Vargas

    • Brody got 100 cheese steaks complete WITZ Whiz Cheese and mushrooms. It was a stroke of Genius!

  25. ESPN
    To Reds for Scooter Gennet & Sal Romano ?????
    May be fake
    Nope mlbnetwork says it’s official Phillied

  27. An A ball player in any team’s top 35 would be acceptable, preferable an outfielder.

  31. Whoa, what a random move. I guess it makes sense. Phils know they have a shot at the WC and are going for it. Not a high cost move but does help their chances to make the post season.

      • I wonder how much cash the Mets gave the Phillies. The article mentions cash but doesn’t say how much.

        • saving $2 million it says now, so presuming they use the buyout, Phils are only paying. for the buyout, while the Mets cover the rest of this year’s salery. (roughly $3 mil)

        • And if he is successful the Phillies could keep him on a 1 year 8MM deal instead. That’s not very expensive.

  34. You better get better pitching then Vargas ! You have a roster loaded with 5th and 6th starters, except Nola. Vargas is another mediocre addition, congrats Klentak in continuing your half a**ed job

    2

    • I say he goes on a run of like 7 amazing games. Just to spite the Mets even more. You heard it here first.

  36. So wait they are trading with themselves , a catcher from the Mets double a is coming back in return ? Are the mets that disfunctional?

  37. Middle finger to you Klentek! Always signing these washed up pitchers in their late 30’s. They were better off calling up some help from the minors instead of giving the Mets any of our young players (no matter how good they aren’t)

    1

    • Philly has cycled through nearly every pitcher that’s ML ready in their minors and none of them have posted a 4.1 ERA like Vargas. Like it or not he’s an upgrade. Clearly not the one you wanted but this doesn’t preclude them for grabbing another starter. The rotation sucks.

      2

        • Vargas isn’t particularly good that’s why you got him and some salary eaten for a complete non prospect. That 4.71 FIP would actually put him 2nd in the Phils rotation right now btw. He’s a #5. That’s about what you get. The Phillies have seen that none of their AAA arms can even give them that.

          1

        • Vargas consistently outperforms his FIP anyway, and outside of last year has a solid track record. he certianly isnt a stud, but a lot better then, say, Eflin right now.

      • Agreed. Vargas isn’t sexy, but at least he can make it out of the 5th inning (he might even be able to do it without giving up 5 runs).

        Besides, who’s to say that Klentak still doesn’t go out and get Tanner Roark for peanuts. That too, would be an upgrade.

        1

    • the help they have called upon have all fallen flat. idve given either EDLS or Irvin longer shots, but Vargas has been solid this year, and with the Mets paying some of his salery, its perfectly palatable.

      1

  40. getting Vargas for less then his full salery is an absolute win. he probably wolnt be as good as he was earlier in the season, and may fall off alltogether next year, but he can eat innings and should help take the strain off of Eflin of Arrieta (one is likely to hit the IL)

    2

      • Still better than any current starter not named Nola. Yes, that’s sad.

      • that’s on the road, and a lot of those starts were fron last year when he struggled. im pretty sure i remember him torching us at home a few moths ago, so i cant imagine he can’t play at all here.

        1

    • I kept waiting for the wheels to fall off, but Vargas has been a legit #4/#5 for the Mets. A 4.1 ERA in the juiced ball era isn’t anything to sneeze at…..until you get to his FIP. He will eat some innings, though when he goes bad…he goes REALLY bad.

      • yeah, i remember first thinking about the idea of getting him a few weeks ago, and it looks like his ERA has gone up since then. i dont think he’ll be too great the rest of the way, but i dont imagine the wheels will fall off too much through the rest of the year, and there is a buyout, so the risk isnt terribly high.

        1

  42. When you get a chance to trade for a 26 year old still in Double A having a down year, you pull that trigger and don’t bother waiting until closer to the deadline when pitching-desperate contenders who missed out on their first or second (or eighth) choices come calling.

    6

    • If you don’t have a catcher, you’re gonna have a lot of passed balls.

      That’s old Met wisdom!

      1

  44. “The 26-year-old is in the midst of a rough campaign, his second at the Double-A level. In his 236 trips to the plate, he’s slashing just .195/.303/.335 with seven home runs.”….pathetic…In the meantime the Dodgers crank out stud players like hotcakes LOL.

  45. It’s been said that Austin Bossart played baseball with Jeff Wilpon’s son.

    This trade came from ownership, and nothing more.

    The Mets truly are dysfunctional at the highest order.

    1

    • The Mets minor league catching depth is horrendous. So it was an area where they could’ve used a guy. If they were gonna deal Vargas anyway I guess he got himself a kid he liked. Whatever. Good for Bossart maybe he’ll hit the big leagues for a short period of time and get himself a pension.

    • The organizational depth catcher? I mean Vargas was never going to bring back anything remotely interesting but I wouldn’t call this a good return. About what should’ve been expected but by no means good.

  48. The biggest question is, how the freak did a Wilpon get into college let alone Penn?? Must have used some of the Madoff cash that they made off with to bribe someone to get him in.

    • I don’t think there’s any doubt about how some rich a-hole’s kid gets into a good college. Or any college.

    • Especially Penn. Wharton will admit anybody with a rich daddy…no matter how bigoted they are.

      1

    • How is this a bad move for Philly at all? The Mets are even eating some salary. The Phillies got a pitcher who is better than 4 of their current starters. Vargas isn’t great, but the Phillies are a better team and they lost a prospect that would’ve never made the team. Solid move here.

      2

      • Some people just can’t handle Klentak being smart. I remember hearing the same complaints when the Segura trade happened.

        This is an absolute win-win for the Phillies right now. It’s just not the sexy name most Phils Phans want.

        2

        • Hi Mrs. Klentak. Your son is a very nice boy, but running an MLB team is not the right career choice.

        • I am baffled that any Phillies fan has a problem with this move. Have you not seen Eflin, Arrieta and Velazquez? Vargas is better than them and the Phils got Vargas for nothing

          2

        • And they gave up nothing! They could still go after Roark and give up mostly nothing and have more stability. Additionally, nothing is stopping them from getting Boyd, MadBum, or any other pitcher out there.

          I’d love to see them go out and bring Giles home.

          2

        • Woods Rider hit the nail on the head. Not the sexy name Phillies fans want. BUT, you can’t always get what you want…but if you try sometimes, you get what you need – Mick Jagger.
          I don’t need him to be Carlton or Cliff Lee….if he eats innings and keeps the Phillies in games and outta the bullpen before the end of the 4th, that’s great.
          Jamie Moyer won a WS in his 40’s without a 90 mph fastball.
          This is basically a free audition for 2020…Bossart is not going to be missed.

          3

  50. WTF kind of move is this for either side? Just release both guys now. Klentek is a joke! You can have a worse GM than these 2 teams have.

    2

  51. So it boils down to, with the 2M for the buyout of 2020, to about 3M and a non-prospect for Vargas….kinda “meh”, there’s worse pitchers out there than Vargas…..of course there’s a whole lot more better ones too……

  52. They left out some details. The Phillies sent the Mets some of their old desktop PC’s with Pentium III processors in exchange for an old pair of Mr. Met’s sneakers.

    1

  53. Saw him as a great fit for the angels… can prevent runs, eat innings, and with the Angels +++ defense could have been a real solid rotation peace for this year and next year . That’s all it took to get him? Smh

    1

  56. Are the Phillies trying to become the most unlikable team in baseball on purpose?

  57. As a Braves fan, I approve this trade for the Phillies. We’ve lit this guy up against the Mets.

    1

  58. stupid trade. why is phillies GM making dumb trades with the frickin mess I mean muts, I mean mets. didn’t be learned last yr. that trading for their players turns sour for us. duh. we got bums last yr and now we got another bum who will probably has health issues in his 3rd start with the phillies.

  59. What do the Mets see in Austin Bossart? He’s a backup catcher and moving slow through MiLB. The Phillies have a good catching prospect, Deivy Grullon.

    Even though this seems like a give away, I would think the Mets could’ve gotten more elsewhere.

    1

  60. Mets get Stoman, Phillies get a washed up lefty. Phillies front office should be fired

    • Mets gave up two solid prospects for Stroman. Phillies got Vargas for virtually nothing. Also Vargas fits right into the rotation. This is a good move. Vargas is not a sexy pitcher like Stromam, but he’s decent and a major upgrade over what the Phillies have been using.

      1

      • jkoko should be banned for such a stupid comment. It’s like comparing the RS acquisition of Sale with their acquisition of Cashner. Two things so different they cannot be compared.

        Philly basically gave up nothing but cash for a #5, on a rotation that lacks any consistency past Nola. And did so without compromising their future whatsoever.

        Value-wise, the NYMs did okay, but I have no idea what their l/t plans are for Stroman.

        • You’re right that despite the deals being connected,they’re not really comparable.

          Stromans a major acquisition,and Vargas is basically a waiver pick up.And that’s why I agree with Koko,he’s basically the Phillies 1st free agent signing for this offseason.2m buyout on a 8m salary,so he’ll pretty much have to completely bomb out to be bought out.

          You like this deal if you believe in Vargas.Im with Koko,because i don’t.I laughed when the Mets signed him,and now they’ve successfully dumped him onto the Phillies.If it was just for the rest of the year,it wouldn’t really matter.But knowing the Phillies,he’ll be our 3 or 4 next year,and I’m not that thrilled about that.

  61. Did the Mets seriously just traded one of their starting pitchers to a division rival? LMMFAO!

    1

  62. I’m thinking this is a Wilpon trade, pure and simple…After that clubhouse incident a few weeks back with Vargas threatening a reporter, that sealed his fate with the Mets and ownership, who were reportedly livid that he did not apologize for the incident afterwords. They were going to peddle him for anything breathing (or not breathing) at the deadline. The fact that they’re taking some of the salary too tells me they were desperate to unload him and took the first deal available,
    Callaway, who was also front and center during that clubhouse altercation will be gone after the season, mostly because of his record but no small part also because of his role in that fiasco.

  63. Vargas has rebounded very nicely this year; Phillies did well by obtaining him for nothing; guy has been 2nd best pitcher this year after degrom, now im not a big fan of his; but is a nice depth piece for phils

    1

  65. So we can shutdown Jake now right? Vargas can step right in and be a Richard in post-game media interviews.

  66. How exciting. Maybe the Phillies can bring Bartolo out of retirement. Between Vargas and Bartolo, their combined fastball could maybe fool someone.

  67. This move fits the Phillies model. He was good in 2014. Their quest to build that 2014 all-star team continues.

    • His ERA+ in 2014 was 106. His ERA+ in 2019 is 103. Yup, that’s waaay different.

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