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Joe Mauer—remember him? He’s the Twins first baseman, or at least he’s supposed to be. He hasn’t played since the fourth of July because he’s had a bad back. It seemed like a no-brainer for the Twins to just put him on the DL and give him some extra rest, especially with the All-Star Break coming up, but the team did nothing—until now.
Yes, yes. Joe is now, FINALLY, officially on the DL.
Well, okay, not officially officially. It’s not on the Twins transactions page and they haven’t sent out the official press release, but LEN3 tweeted this:
Joe Mauer is headed to the DL because of his sore back. Look for Kennys Vargas to replace him on the roster.
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) July 7, 2017
That’s official enough for me.
And oh, yeah, it sounds like the Twins are recalling Kennys Vargas, but I have no idea if he’ll make it to Minneapolis in time for tonight’s game. The Twins just sent Vargas down on Tuesday when they activated Ehire Adrianza.
So maybe Kennys Vargas is good enough? Though ByungHo Park has been hitting better in Triple-A as of late, this seems like a temporary need for a first baseman, so the Twins wouldn’t be clearing a 40-man roster spot to call him up.