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Stacey King -> RE: Players and prospects III (8/1/2014 8:25:38 AM)
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Vargas Tries To Emulate Former Twin
Double-A New Britain first baseman Kennys Vargas doesn’t try to hide his admiration for David Ortiz.
He wears the same sunglasses as Big Papi. He’s picked up many of the same mannerisms. He occasionally wears the same trademark beard style, and his swing is a dead-on impersonation of the Red Sox star.
Vargas wanted to could copy his role model in one other way, too: By getting called up to the Twins.
For Ortiz, that day came when he was just 21. For Vargas, 23, that day came Thursday.
“I feel like I’m ready,” the 6-foot-5, switch-hitting slugger from Puerto Rico said. “I think I can help them.”
Like Ortiz, Vargas’ training is at first base, mostly because he weighs 270 pounds. But the Twins have Joe Mauer signed through 2018, so Vargas’ natural position may be blocked. His range is so-so in the infield, however, so giving him more room to cover seems problematic.
Farm director Brad Steil told him that the Twins would consider a request to play the outfield, Vargas said, but only if he slimmed down.
“He said, ‘If you want it, you have to come down to 255,’ ” Vargas said.
The Twins already have seen plenty from Vargas to get excited about at the plate. Signed as a nondrafted free agent out of high school in Canovanas, P.R., in 2009, Vargas has power to all fields, but when he pulls the ball, it travels 400 feet.
Vargas, who served a 50-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in 2012, hit .288/.369/.484 with 17 homers through 95 games at New Britain.
“I told him, ‘We can use another Big Papi,’ ” said big league manager Ron Gardenhire, who managed Ortiz for one season in 2002. “He’s a big kid with a bright future.”
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