Vargas agreed to a contract Tuesday with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League, Seth Stohs of TwinsDaily.com reports.
After being outrighted off the Twins' 40-man roster coming out of spring training, Vargas spent the entire 2018 campaign at Triple-A Rochester, delivering a .240/.326/.425 slash line across 644 plate appearances. With that production unlikely to earn Vargas much more than a minor-league deal this winter, the 28-year-old elected to take his talents overseas for the 2019 season. Contact issues have limited the impact of Vargas' considerable pop in the majors and high minors, but he could emerge as a top slugger in Japan while teeing off against lower-caliber pitching.