The Rangers traded Vargas to the Marlins on Tuesday alongside Max Acosta and Brayan Mendoza in exchange for Jake Burger, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
Vargas spent all of last year with the Rangers' Single-A affiliate, where he slashed .276/.321/.454 with 49 RBI and 29 stolen bases in 97 games. The 19-year-old infielder will have an easier path to the majors now that he's joining a rebuilding Marlins organization, though his MLB debut is likely still several years away.
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Rangers' Echedry Vargas: Power, speed in Carolina League
Rotowire
Vargas slashed .276/.321/.454 with 14 home runs and 29 steals in 97 games for Single-A Down East.
While the surface stats appear promising for the 19-year-old middle infielder, his 0.24 BB/K, 22.0 percent hard-hit rate and 25.5 percent soft-contact rate portend struggles in the upper levels. Vargas is an aggressive hitter who doesn't make consistent hard contact, so he projects to log low on-base percentages and potentially low batting averages. Even so, he could potentially log a 20/20 season or two if he finds his way into an everyday role. Vargas' projects to be a quality defender at second base or a passable defender at shortstop, and his most likely role is utility infielder who sometimes ascends to regular duty depending on injuries and performance.
