Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Miguel Vargas Identified as LA’s Top ROY Candidate by Prospects Experts

One of the fun parts of the offseason is thinking about which prospects might make a big impact the following year. For the Dodgers, both Andrew Friedman and Stan Kasten have hinted at the possibility of a youth movement in Los Angeles, so we could see more young talent than usual in 2023.

Over at MLB.com, prospect experts Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo put together a list of the top Rookie of the Year candidates for each team. Unsurprisingly, the Pacific Coast League’s Top MLB Prospect is L.A.’as listing.

Dodgers: Miguel Vargas, 3B/OF (No. 3/MLB No. 41)

The Dodgers could have openings at third base and in the outfield, leaving plenty of opportunity for Vargas, who defected from Cuba with his father Lazaro (the DH on the 1992 and 1996 Olympic champions) in November 2015 and signed for $300,000 two years later. He has an advanced understanding of hitting and solid raw power, which translated into a .304/.404/.511 line with 17 homers and 16 steals in 113 Triple-A games before he got a cup of coffee in Los Angeles.

Vargas has done nothing but hit as a minor leaguer, and while his performance in his brief cup of coffee with Los Angeles wasn’t what he had hoped, he showed flashes of the promise the Dodgers feel about him. No one really doubts that he’ll hit; the question is where he’ll play on defense.

But with Vargas’s offensive profile — he can hit for average and hit for power, and his eye is outstanding — the Dodgers will find somewhere for him to play.

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Jeff Snider

Jeff was born into a Dodgers family in Southern California and is now raising a Dodgers family of his own in Utah. During his previous career as an executive at a technology company, he began writing about baseball in his spare time. After leaving corporate America in 2014, he started doing it professionally. Jeff wrote and edited for Baseball Essential for years before joining Dodgers Nation. He's also the co-host of the Locked On Dodgers podcast, a daily podcast that brings the smart fan's perspective on our Boys in Blue. Jeff has a degree in English from Brigham Young University. Favorite Player: Clayton Kershaw Favorite Moment: Kirk Gibson's homer will always have a place, but Kershaw's homer on Opening Day 2013 might be the winner.

2 Comments

  1. According to all the scouts and coaches Vargas is the real deal. Gomes said he could fall out of bed and hit.
    Vargas, Outman and Busch may all make the roster this year.

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