Kennys Vargas clears waivers, outrighted to Triple-A Rochester

Welp, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were able to pull if off.

The Twins announced early Tuesday afternoon that they have outrighted Kennys Vargas to Triple-A Rochester, meaning he was able to pass through waivers unclaimed. It was their second attempt to pass Vargas through waivers in the past two weeks. The first time they tried it, Vargas was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. However, when the Reds realized they already have Joey Votto at first and don’t have a DH, they placed Vargas on waivers again, and the Twins claimed him back.

However, the Twins still didn’t and don’t have room on their Opening Day roster for Kennys Vargas, who is also out of options. Vargas can really only play DH and sort of first base, and the Twins already have three options better than Vargas on their roster to fill those roles: Joe Mauer, Logan Morrison, and Miguel Sano. Hence, the Twins almost immediately put Vargas on waivers again, and this time the Reds didn’t have a giant brain fart.

This is a great move for the Twins, who’ll now be able to stash Vargas in the minors as extra depth at first base. Though no other team wanted to claim him, Vargas is about an average or maybe slightly above average replacement player. Over his 236 game in the majors, Vargas has wracked up a 0.7 WAR on both the Fangraphs and Baseball Reference scales. He’s hit .252/.311/.437 with 35 home runs overall in the big leagues.

The move also takes Kennys Vargas off the 40-man roster, giving the Twins one open spot should they want to claim a player who has been cut from another team, or make some other kind of move.