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The thing about Vargas is that he continues to get better at pitching in true crafty left hander fashion. In 2011-2012 his strikeout/9 jumped to good pitcher status 5.9-5.8 respectively. His improvement in 2012 is that he pitched more innings, and his strikeout/walk ratio jumped from 2.22 (2011) to 2.56 (2012). 2011-2012 Vargas was every bit of vintage Moyer during his best years. The only thing Vargas is missing that would have made him more of a fan favorite, is that malevolent Moyer smile when another sucker swung and missed his ridiculous changeup for strike three. Vargas' flat 'tude made it appear that he was having just another day at the office, rather than reveling in the defeat and humiliation of his larger and more macho enemies. Maybe Vargas will be more arrogant in his 30's and 40's when people are still swinging at his slop. Erasmo seems comparable to Vargas from the right hand side. I think that Beaven still needs to learn the changeup, or some other excellent out-pitch. his 3.9 lifetime SO/9 is probably why he has a 4.37 lifetime ERA.
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/9/10/3305489/prospect-retrospective-...
Take a gander at John Sickel's career profile for Brad Radke.  Radke is a finesse righthander who never walks anyone, just like Beaven.  Radke had a Beavenish 3.7 strikeouts per nine inning pitch during his rookie year, and then he settled in for 5.6 strikeouts per nine innings after that.  Sickels said that Radke's out pitch was an outstanding changeup.
Note that even with a good changeup and ridiculous command, Radke still had a 4.22 lifetime ERA.  I think that the reason that Doc kept talking about trading Vargas is the worry that he is comparable to Brad Radke, but this particular type of pitcher flourished under old Safeco, and may be exposed in more hitter friendly parks.  Beaven still needs to sharpen his weapons to turn into Brad Radke.  I sure hope he does, but we already have Iwakuma/Erasmo in the crafty finesse right hander with awesome out pitch mold, and Hultzen, another fastball/changeup lefty, so it would be good to get some pitchers in there with some different weapons.