60 WAR, 3000 hits, 10 time All Star, MVP, ROY, 10 time Gold Glove, 3 time Silver Slugger, .311 career batting average over 2653 MLB games. This was all after he came to the States at age 27. Absurd that it wasn't unanimous.
His hands were completely tied don't you know. And then when given control he engineered the worst team in modern history. But that wasn't his fault either.
Ugh.
Funniest part about this Whatabout defense of a non-tender worthy 1B is that if the Sox cut him loose, how many of those teams with equally bad 1B would be lining up to give Vaughn $6M and a starting job? I would venture not many. At least with those other guys there is a history of good production, which can't be said about Vaughn.
Rojas played a damn good 3B for the Mariners last season and is equally capable of covering 2B. The bat leaves a lot to be desired though, which is likely why the M's non-tendered him. Odd that he would choose to come to this mess, cuz I can't see Getz giving the 3B job to anyone but suckass Vargas.
157 plate appearances after a mid season trade might not be a large sample size, but he's had over 500 AB's in the bigs. At some point we have to stop clinging to his former prospect status from years ago and look at what he has done in the Majors. And his Major League numbers aren't pretty, which, to me, are more predictive of who he is and will be than his AAA numbers or prospect ranking from years past.
I'd rather keep the low-A bullpen arm honestly, even if he never amounts to anything. Which, knowing the GM's track record for development, seems pretty likely.