Minnesota Twins prospects Kennys Vargas (left) and Miguel Sano were teammates on the 2012 Beloit Snappers.

Minnesota Twins prospect Kennys Vargas had a big game Saturday for the Indios de Mayaguez of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

In an abbreviated, 7-inning game, the first baseman went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI. He fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

Vargas hit .318 with 11 HR and 36 RBI in 41 games with the 2012 Beloit Snappers.

Christenson named Snappers manager

Former big-league outfielder Ryan Christenson will manage the Beloit Snappers in 2013. The first-time manager played parts of six seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Oakland A’s (Beloit’s new major-league affiliate).

Christenson is no stranger to the Midwest League, having played in 33 games with the West Michigan Whitecaps in 1996. He hit .311 with 2 HR and 18 RBI.

John Wasdin will be the pitching coach for the Snappers after serving in that capacity for the Burlington Bees when they were affiliated with the A’s. The righty posted a 39-39 record with a 5.28 ERA during his 12-year MLB career. He briefly pitched in the Midwest League, going 2-3 with a 1.86 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 48.1 IP for the 1993 Madison Muskies.

Casey Myers will be Beloit’s hitting coach. He played eight minor-league seasons in the A’s organization (none in the Midwest League).

Outfield reconstruction project

The outfield of Beloit’s Pohlman Field was reconstructed this offseason. It was stripped, graded and re-sodded. You can see photos of the reconstruction work here on the Snappers’ Facebook page.

Outfield reconstruction work was done at Pohlman Field in late October and early November.