That is why they re-signed him. Give it up KieBUST will never succeed in a Nats uni.
Vargas hits .245 - .250. He plays good defense at 3B, 2B, and SS. He is a fine utility player. Until the Nats have a third baseman, he will start. And Luis Garcia is uneven at 2B, so Vargas can replace him.
Maybe Rizzo finds another under-valued 3B, as undervalued as Candelario was. In that case, Vargas is the backup again. Otherwise: Kieboom was tried and failed. Alu looks like a god all-around fielder, one who hits better than Kieboom, but not an MLB regular. The Nats have prospects who play 3B, but none are close.
Vargas is a bad defender at shortstop, he is mediocre at second, and he's average at third. He doesn't hit for average. He doesn't hit for power. He is not a starter on a competitive team, and to be honest, he is not even on a competitive roster. He is a below replacement level player for his career. There is no reason for Vargas to be replacing anyone for longer than a couple games. We have options at all the positions he play that should be given an opportunity.
X is representative of Vargas's performance, abilities, and likelihood of being a productive player on a playoff bound-Nationals team. It is more than 0.
A is representative of Kieboom. B is representative of Garcia. C is representative of Alu. And so forth for throughout the organization.
All letters that aren't X > X. All of them.
Even if that player performs worse than what Vargas would perform, its still more valuable to play that player, simply to evaluate that player and prepare for the future. Which is still the goal of the 2024 season. There is no reason to give Vargas any substantial playing time. He is not a factor in the Nationals rebuild. He is only getting this contract because he is cheap and he has a positive attitude.
If he's healthy, start Kieboom next season. If not, start Alu. Garcia starts at second. Give them at least until mid-June to see whats going on, as well as see how House/Morales/Lipscomb/Baker do in the minors. Make a plan from there, but in all honesty, that should probably be your starting infield until you call someone up. If they hit, excellent. If not, Rizzo made sure and can comfortably move on without rushing anyone in the minors.
Starting Vargas over any other player in the organization is saying you don't care about improving the team and you have no interest in winning anything in the forseeable future. You are, effectively, saying that you're the A's and you don't give a crap.
