Next up on our list is an infielder.
Name: Marco Vargas
Position: INF
Born: 5/14/2005
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R
Acquired: Trade (July 28, 2023: Traded by the Miami Marlins with Ronald Hernandez to the New York Mets for David Robertson)
2024 Stats: 37 G, 130 AB, .208/.369/.239, 27 H, 4 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 34 BB, 38 K, 13/15 SB, .284 BABIP (Single-A)
Marco Vargas was signed by the Miami Marlins on May 25, 2022, the day before his 17th birthday, for $17,500. Three weeks later, the Chihuahua, Mexico native was assigned to the Dominican Summer League, where he appeared in 53 games for the DSL Miami squad. Vargas won team MVP honors, hitting .319/.421/.456 with 13 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 14 stolen bases in 20 attempts, and 35 walks to 32 strikeouts. He was sent stateside in 2023 and was assigned to the FCL Marlins, Miami’s Florida Complex League team. Appearing in 33 games for them, the infielder hit .283/.457/.442 with 11 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 8 stolen bases in 10 attempts, and 38 walks to 22 strikeouts.
On July 28, 2023, Vargas was packaged along with teammate Ronald Hernandez and traded to the Mets in exchange for veteran reliever David Robertson. Vargas remained in the FCL, now with the FCL Mets, and hit .234/.368/.298 in 15 games with them, knocking 3 more doubles, stealing 2 more bases, and drawing 10 walks to 9 strikeouts. At the end of August, he was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets and appeared in 6 games, going 8-26 with no extra base hits, 2 stolen bases in 5 attempts, and drawing 5 walks to 7 strikeouts. All in all, he spent the majority of his season in the Florida Complex League and hit an outstanding .269/.431/.398 in 49 games with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts, and 48 walks to 33 strikeouts, a 117 wRC+
He was ranked 8th on the 2024 Amazin Avenue’ Top 25 Prospect list and was a prime candidate to have a breakout season and not only increase his standing among the organization’s prospects, but also among the best prospects across all of baseball, but unfortunately, that was not to be. After getting just sporadic playing time in April, he was placed on the injured list at the end of the month. After being activated, he got into a handful of games and was placed back on the injured list. All in all, he was placed on the injured list four times throughout the year, it later being revealed that he was dealing with wrist tendonitis. All in all, he only played 37 games in 2024, most coming during a stretch of play in May and in August/September and hit.208/.369/.239 with 4 doubles, 0 triples, 0 home runs, 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts, and 34 walks to 38 strikeouts.
Vargas stands tall at the plate, slightly open, with his hands held high and his bat wrapped behind his head angled at 11:00. He has a quick, balanced, compact stroke from the left-side and has excellent bat-to-ball skills. He tracks pitches well and has a strong knowledge of the strike zone, resulting in a high walk rate, low strikeout rate, and a ton of contact and plenty of pitches put in play. Vargas does not swing with otherworldly bat speed, or have overwhelming present of projected physical strength, but there are clear areas in which he can improve, leading many scouts and evaluators hope that in the future, the infielder will be a double-digit home run contributor. In 2024, he averaged an 88 exit velocity on all balls put in play, with a handful of 100+ MPH readings. By raising his launch angle slightly- he averaged 11-degrees in 2024- and pulling the ball more- he pulled the ball at a 39.6% rate, went back up the middle at a 18.8% rate and went to the opposite field at a 41.7% rate- he will optimize his batted ball profile, similar to how former Mets prospect Andres Gimenez optimized his.
Defensively, Vargas has played defense all over the infield over the course of his young career, splitting second base and shortstop almost equally in his limited 2024 and playing a total of 239.2 innings at third base, 319.2 innings at second base, and 475.1 at shortstop since becoming a professional in 2022. His arm is fringe-average, as is his range up the middle, so he will make the routine plays and catch most balls hit to him but will be pressed to make more difficult highlight-reel plays. As such, his skillset is best suited for second in the long term if his reaction speeds and lateral agility don’t improve.
2025 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
16) Blade Tidwell
17) Eli Serrano III
18) Trey Snyder
19) Nick Morabito
20) Dom Hamel
21) Jacob Reimer
22) Will Watson
23) Daiverson Gutierrez
24) Ronald Hernandez
25) Edward Lantigua