Dodgers GM Confirms Plan for Miguel Vargas This Season

One of the biggest questions all offseason has been what the Dodgers’ infield will look like in 2023. With the departure of Trea Turner to the Phillies, a hole opened up at shortstop. It looks like Gavin Lux will fill that hole, which really just transfers the hole to second base.

Last week, Los Angeles president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said if he had to guess, he’d expect an infield of Freddie Freeman at first, Lux at short, Max Muncy at third, and rookie Miguel Vargas at second. Vargas has been mostly a third baseman in his minor-league career, but he’s played some second (along with some first and some outfield), so it’s not entirely new.

We saw videos earlier this week of Vargas working on infield defense with his new LA teammate Miguel Rojas, and one of those videos showed Vargas working specifically at second base, which gave support to Friedman’s statement. Now, general manager Brandon Gomes has weighed in, and he confirms what we’ve seen and heard, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

“Vargy has been taking a ton of reps at second, some at third, but we think at this point that’s his focus and that’s trending really well,” Gomes said. “He’s a great athlete, and he’s working incredibly hard.” …

Muncy and Vargas could alternate positions from time to time, but with some of the new shift rules, the Dodgers believe having Vargas and Muncy at second and third, respectively, gives them the best infield defense, an area of question heading into Spring Training.

“I think Muncy is a great athlete, personally. He always graded out well,” Gomes said. “Vargas is our second- or third-fastest guy on the team, which is probably not appreciated at all. So he’s also a good athlete. It’s more about getting him reps and getting his feel at second base. I think a combination of it all is really strong.”

Second base defense was going to be a question no matter what because of the new shift rules, so maybe this is the best time to throw Vargas into the fire. He’s an excellent athlete, and his bat at second base would be very valuable. Only time will tell how it goes, but with the work Vargas has been putting in, it’s not quite right to call this an experiment. Vargas will be the second baseman; beyond that, who knows?

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