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Ildemaro Vargas

Twins Designate Ildemaro Vargas For Assignment

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The Twins have designated infielder Ildemaro Vargas for assignment, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. That will make room for third baseman Josh Donaldson’s activation from the injured list.

Vargas is just a few weeks into his tenure with the Twins, who acquired him from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations on Aug. 11. While the 29-year-old Vargas brings a great deal of defensive versatility to the table, having played all over the diamond since he debuted in 2017, his bat his held him back.

The switch-hitting Vargas has only mustered a .255/.284/.385 line with seven home runs in 289 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, including 24 PA as a member of the Twins. He has, however, recorded a much more encouraging .326/.371/.464 line with 126 extra-base hits (88 doubles, 21 homers, 17 triples) over 1,468 plate appearances in Triple-A ball.

Twins Designate Cory Gearrin For Assignment

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The Twins have designated right-handed reliever Cory Gearrin for assignment, per a club announcement. Minnesota also activated righty Zack Littell from the injured list, placed fellow right-hander Cody Stashak on the 10-day IL due to lower back inflammation and activated recently acquired infielder Ildemaro Vargas.

Gearrin, 34, inked a minor league deal with the Twins in early 2020 and was added to the big league roster over the weekend after beginning the season at their alternate training site in St. Paul. He pitched a pair of scoreless innings Sunday, and in doing so ensured that he’d pitched in his sixth consecutive Major League season.

Gearrin has never been an overpowering reliever, but he has a solid track record in the Majors. From 2016-19, he averaged 63 relief appearances per year and worked to a tidy 3.42 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 47.9 percent ground-ball rate. Overall, Gearrin carries a 3.61 ERA and 3.81 FIP in 304 innings at the Major League level. Given the number of struggling bullpens around the game, he could appeal to another team on a waiver claim or a minor trade.

As for Littell, he’ll return to the club after missing about two weeks with a hamstring strain. He was tagged for four runs in his first three innings of work this season, but Littell flourished in the Minnesota bullpen last year, finishing out the season with 30 2/3 frames of 0.88 ERA ball after being recalled from Triple-A in late June. Stashak had his own impressive run for the Twins in the second half of 2019 and has allowed three runs on five hits and a pair of walks with 10 punchouts through seven innings thus far in 2020.

D-backs Trade Ildemaro Vargas To Twins

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The Twins announced that they have acquired switch-hitting utility infielder Ildemaro Vargas from the Diamondbacks for cash. Minnesota will make a 28-man roster move to accommodate Vargas’ activation at a later date. Arizona designated Vargas for assignment late last week.

Vargas, 29, has a strong Triple-A track record at the plate and plenty of versatility, given that he’s a switch-hitter with more than 1000 innings of experience at each of shortstop, second base and third base. Vargas has also seen time at all three outfield spots and first base, though only a few games’ worth of innings at each slot.

However, despite that versatility, Vargas’ production from Triple-A hasn’t really carried over to the Majors. He’s a career .326/.371/.464 hitter at the top minor league level but has mustered just a .257/.287/.357 slash in the Majors. He hasn’t received much of a look at the big league level with the D-backs, however, so perhaps the Twins feel that he can thrive with a bit more playing time. Then again, the Twins already have plenty of infield options themselves, so playing time could continue to be difficult to come by. Vargas is also out of minor league options, so the Twins can’t send him to their alternate training site in St. Paul unless they designate him for assignment themselves and Vargas subsequently goes unclaimed on waivers.

Diamondbacks Designate Ildemaro Vargas For Assignment

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The D-backs announced Thursday that they’ve designated infielder Ildemaro Vargas for assignment. The club also optioned righty Yoan Lopez to its alternate training site at Salt River Fields. The pair of moves drops Arizona’s roster from 30 to the newly requisite 28.

Vargas, 29, has a strong Triple-A track record at the plate and plenty of versatility, given that he’s a switch-hitter with more than 1000 innings of experience at each of shortstop, second base and third base. Vargas has also seen time at all three outfield spots and first base, though only a few games’ worth of innings at each slot.

However, despite that versatility, Vargas’ production from Triple-A hasn’t really carried over to the Majors. He’s a career .326/.371/.464 hitter at the top minor league level but has mustered just a .257/.287/.357 slash in the Majors. It’s true that he’s only had 137 plate appearances and never really gotten consistent playing time, but the D-backs clearly feel their other bench options to be superior.

Vargas’ case was surely hurt by the fact that his versatility isn’t exactly unique on a D-backs roster that is rife with Swiss army knives. Newly promoted Andy Young can play all over the infield, just as Vargas can, and top catching prospect Daulton Varsho is somewhat of an anomaly given his ability to capably handle catcher, center field and multiple infield positions. D-backs star Ketel Marte is quite obviously comfortable at second base or in the outfield, and third baseman Eduardo Escobar is no stranger to playing other infield spots as well.

Vargas, meanwhile, was out of minor league options and has only seen eight plate appearances this season in the Majors. Arizona hasn’t been able to find playing time for him, and carrying him as a seldom-used, out-of-options bench piece would’ve effectively reduced their roster size to 27 players. Arizona will have a week to trade Vargas, release him or place him on outright waivers. His Triple-A track record and versatility could get him a look in another organization.

 

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