Kennys Vargas claimed off waivers by the Reds

Last Friday the Twins claimed outfielder Nick Jake Cave off waivers from the Yankees, and to make room on the 40-man roster, they DFAed Kennys Vargas. Today it was announced that Kennys Vargas has been claimed by... the Cincinnati Reds? Uh, ok.

The move seems a little odd on the part of the Reds. As a national league team, they don’t have a designated hitter, and they already have Joey Votto — who nearly won the NL MVP award last year — firmly entrenched at first base. That would seem to relegate poor Kennys to a pinch hitting role, unless thy want to try putting him in the outfield or something, but who in their right mind would put a big infielder like that in the outfield? Wait, don’t answer that.

The Reds were number five on the waiver priority list, so Vargas didn’t make it that far before being claimed. It looks like the teams who passed on him were the Tigers, Giants, Phillies, and White Sox. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Reds end up putting Kennys back on waivers in the near future, though, so some other teams might still get a shot.

As I mentioned when Vargas was originally DFAed, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Vargas is out of options, and just seems redundant on a roster with Joe Mauer, Miguel Sano, and Logan Morrison. At the same time, he also wasn’t enough to garner any significant trade offers.

In 2017, Vargas hit .253/.314/.444 with eleven home runs in 78 big league games. I will miss him and his largeness, though it only means the Twins have better options these days, which I guess is a good think.

Good luck, Kennys.