The Minnesota Twins made a couple of roster moves on Friday afternoon.
First, the Twins acquired outfielder Jake Cave from the New York Yankees. Cave was designated for assignment earlier in the week. That said, the Twins gave the Yankees minor league pitcher Luis Gil in exchange for the outfield prospect.
Cave, 25, split the 2017 season between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In Triple-A, he hit .324 with 15 home runs and a .921 OPS in 72 games. He has never appeared in an MLB game. He was DFA’d to make room for Neil Walker and not needed by the Yankees system because they have plenty of outfield depth.
Cave will likely start this season in Triple-A. This is because Robbie Grossman, who posted a .361 on-base percentage last season, is favored to win the fourth outfield job. However, it is likely that Cave will make an impact in the big leagues this season.
Gone now
In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Cave, the Twins designated slugger Kennys Vargas for assignment. The move should not be too surprising, however. When the Twins signed Logan Morrison last month, it became apparent Vargas was unnecessary.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, Vargas used to be one of the Twins top prospects. About to enter his fifth big league season, Vargas has never spent a full season in the bigs.
Last year, Vargas hit .253 with 11 home runs and a .758 OPS in 78 big league games. Joe Mauer is the Twins first baseman, so there was no spot for Vargas in the starting nine. His lack of versatility did not make him an appealing bench option.
So far, Vargas has spent parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball. According to Baseball Reference, he has averaged 24 home runs per 162 games played.
The Twins now have 10 days to decide what they will do with Vargas. They can attempt to trade him and if they can’t do that, they will place him on waivers. He will likely be claimed because he represents an inexpensive power option. The one catch with him is that he is out of options, so he will need to crack an Opening Day roster somewhere.
