Mets add LHP Vargas to crowded rotation
Jason Vargas, who tied for the major league lead in wins last year, officially changed teams Sunday.
The left-hander signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the New York Mets, who also hold a club option for 2020.
Vargas, 35, went 18-11 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 starts last year for the Kansas City Royals after missing most of the previous two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was an 2017 American League All-Star selection after going 12-3 with a 2.62 ERA in the first half.
Following the break, he struggled, going 6-8 with an ugly 6.38 ERA in 15 starts. Still, the slump didn't scare off the Mets.
"If he wins 18 games for us this year, we're pretty good," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said, according to the New York Daily News. "Those 18 wins stand out. Those 32 starts stand out. His 180 innings would have been second in our rotation last year.
"We need to get back to the point where we have seven or eight guys starting all of our games, not 11, 12 or 13. We're going to be pretty good. Jason really helps us in that."
Alderson added, according to Newsday, "Of those pitchers that were available of his quality, he was our No. 1 choice."
Vargas joins a rotation that features plenty of talent but lots of health concerns: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler.
"I think the abilities (of) the guys that have been in this rotation the past few years speaks for themselves," Vargas said Sunday, according to the Daily News. "I don't think there's other pitching staffs out there that can say they have pitchers with better stuff. But the name of the game is health, obviously, and going out there and giving your team a chance to win every fifth day. ...
"I think that pitching a high level of innings just means that you're getting your job done. It means you're doing what you're supposed to do, you're taking the ball every fifth day. I take pride in being somebody that the guys behind me can count on."
Vargas, who also missed the 2008 season with a torn hip labrum, is 85-81 with a 4.17 ERA in parts of 11 seasons spent with the then-Florida Marlins, the Mets, the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Angels and the Royals. He appeared in just two games for the Mets in 2007, going 0-1 with a 12.19 ERA.
--Field Level Media
