Cubs Place Matt Duffy On COVID IL, Select Ildemaro Vargas
The Cubs have placed infielder Matt Duffy on the COVID-19 list and selected the contract of fellow infelder Ildemaro Vargas from their alternate site, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic tweets.
Duffy is the fourth Cubs player to land on the COVID list this week, joining pitchers Jason Adam, Brandon Workman and Dan Winkler. As Sharma notes, though, it doesn’t necessarily mean Duffy tested positive.
Chicago claimed Vargas via waivers from the Twins last September, but he lost his 40-man roster spot when the Cubs designated him for assignment in March. Vargas remained with the organization after clearing waivers. Also a former Diamondback, the light-hitting Vargas carries a .254/.282/.391 line in 298 plate appearances, though he does offer plenty of defensive versatility in the infield.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/21
The game’s latest minor transactions:
- Cubs infielder Ildemaro Vargas cleared waivers and was assigned outright to the alternate training site, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to note (Twitter link). The Cubs designated the 29-year-old for assignment over the weekend. Vargas is a switch-hitter who has been decent against left-handed pitching in his brief big league time. He hasn’t hit righties at all, though, and slashed just .196/.222/.314 in 54 plate appearances between the Diamondbacks, Twins and Cubs last season.
- Phillies left-hander Kyle Dohy cleared waivers and was outrighted to their alternate site, per a team announcement. Dohy was a 16th-round pick in 2017 who has pitched to a 3.89 ERA in 155 minor league innings. He made his Triple-A debut in 2019 but struggled to a 6.19 ERA over 56 2/3 frames. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 24-year-old as the Phillies’ 32nd-best prospect last month, writing that his “plus changeup and mid-90s velo” could someday make him a viable relief option in the bigs.
Cubs Select Three Contracts, Designate Ildemaro Vargas
The Cubs announced that they have selected the contracts of left-hander Rex Brothers and infielders Eric Sogard and Matt Duffy. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas has been designated for assignment to open up roster space.
Brothers is back with the Cubs after signing a new minor league deal with the team in February, while Sogard and Duffy joined the organization on minors contracts of their own this past winter. It was expected that Sogard would make the team after yesterday’s news that Nico Hoerner had been optioned to Triple-A, clearing the way for a Sogard/David Bote second base platoon. Duffy is back in the majors for the first time since the 2019 season, as he didn’t reach the Show with either the Rangers or Yankees after signing minor league deals with the two squads last year.
The roster shuffling leaves Vargas as the odd man out. Vargas came to Chicago on a waiver claim from the Twins last September, capping off a nomadic season that saw the 29-year-old appear in games with the Cubs, Twins, and Diamondbacks. The big majority of Vargas’ MLB playing time came in Arizona, where he hit .257/.287/.387 over 265 plate appearances with the D’Backs from 2017-20, with 211 of those PA coming in 2019 when Vargas saw a lot of work at second base.
Vargas has played a handful of games as a first baseman, shortstop, and corner outfielder to go along with his much more extensive time as a second baseman and third baseman. This multi-positional usage makes him an asset for the Cubs at Triple-A should he clear waivers, or possibly make him attractive to another team who wants to make a claim.
Cubs Claim Ildemaro Vargas, Release Jharel Cotton
The Cubs have claimed infielder Ildemaro Vargas off waivers from the Twins, the team announced. In another move, the Cubs also announced that right-hander Jharel Cotton has been released.
Vargas was designated for assignment three days ago, as Minnesota looked to clear roster space for Josh Donaldson‘s activation from the injured list. Vargas is now on the move for the second time in a month, as the Twins only just acquired him a trade from the Diamondbacks (after another DFA) in early August.
Vargas has 45 combined plate appearances with the D’Backs and Twins this season, and has hit .255/.284/.385 over 289 career PA at the big league level, all but 24 of them in an Arizona uniform. The switch-hitting Vargas has primarily worked as a second baseman in the minors and at the big league level, but he has experience at multiple other positions (mostly shortstop and third base) and thus offers some value as a utility piece.
Since Vargas is out of options, the Cubs will have to carry him on their Major League roster lest they risk designating him again and losing him to another team’s waiver claim. Vargas will join Nico Hoerner and David Bote as Chicago’s primary backup infielders, with Jason Kipnis increasingly getting the lion’s share of regular second base playing time.
Cotton was acquired from the Athletics in an offseason trade, and the righty will now look for a new team to get his career back on track. Once a top-100 ranked prospect during his time in Oakland’s farm system, Cotton hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017 due to Tommy John surgery. His brief big league resume consists of a 4.95 ERA over 158 1/3 innings in 2016-17, though Cotton has a solid 3.85 ERA, 3.84 K/BB rate, and 10.2 K/9 over 496 career innings at the minor league level.
Twins Designate Ildemaro Vargas For Assignment
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
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
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
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.