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The Mariners have been AWFUL at signing IFA hitting talent, and Vargas was ranked like #25 out of the top-30 that year IIRC by the same scouting folks who pulled the Machado comp. He was big, and would probably slide to third. Maybe he pulls that off, maybe he doesn't, but none of the other hitters we've brought in have managed to turn into anything recently. I'm not saying Vargas is a bust, I'm saying he hasn't even come stateside yet and is half a decade from contributing, at best. The Mariners had a year to see him play for us and traded him.
They're in the best position to know - second-guessing from here would be sheer hubris. So right now I can only take him as being throw-in-level talent that we overpaid for (again).