Raul Valdez

[Jon]

I know there was a brief discussion about him in the Walker thread, so I thought I'd post this from Cubs.com:

CHICAGO -- Remember the name Raul Valdez.

The 27-year-old Cuban pitcher will be among those invited to the Chicago Cubs' Spring Training camp in February. Valdez pitched for Azucareros in the Dominican Republic, and was 5-1 with a 0.71 ERA in nine games.

 

Valdez led the Dominican League in wins and ranked third in strikeouts with 42 in 51 innings. He walked 20 and gave up four runs.

 

Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' director of player development, wants Valdez in the big league camp this spring to get a better feel for his ability. The left-hander once pitched for the Cuban National team.

I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct?

[Tim]

I know there was a brief discussion about him in the Walker thread, so I thought I'd post this from Cubs.com:

CHICAGO -- Remember the name Raul Valdez.

The 27-year-old Cuban pitcher will be among those invited to the Chicago Cubs' Spring Training camp in February. Valdez pitched for Azucareros in the Dominican Republic, and was 5-1 with a 0.71 ERA in nine games.

 

Valdez led the Dominican League in wins and ranked third in strikeouts with 42 in 51 innings. He walked 20 and gave up four runs.

 

Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' director of player development, wants Valdez in the big league camp this spring to get a better feel for his ability. The left-hander once pitched for the Cuban National team.

I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct?

I'd guess that the more recent age has been adjusted for the truth.

[Jon]

I know there was a brief discussion about him in the Walker thread, so I thought I'd post this from Cubs.com:

CHICAGO -- Remember the name Raul Valdez.

The 27-year-old Cuban pitcher will be among those invited to the Chicago Cubs' Spring Training camp in February. Valdez pitched for Azucareros in the Dominican Republic, and was 5-1 with a 0.71 ERA in nine games.

 

Valdez led the Dominican League in wins and ranked third in strikeouts with 42 in 51 innings. He walked 20 and gave up four runs.

 

Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' director of player development, wants Valdez in the big league camp this spring to get a better feel for his ability. The left-hander once pitched for the Cuban National team.

I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct?

I'd guess that the more recent age has been adjusted for the truth.

When was he signed again?

 

By the way, according to Cubanball.com, he was invited on November 22nd.

[Tim]

I know there was a brief discussion about him in the Walker thread, so I thought I'd post this from Cubs.com:

CHICAGO -- Remember the name Raul Valdez.

The 27-year-old Cuban pitcher will be among those invited to the Chicago Cubs' Spring Training camp in February. Valdez pitched for Azucareros in the Dominican Republic, and was 5-1 with a 0.71 ERA in nine games.

 

Valdez led the Dominican League in wins and ranked third in strikeouts with 42 in 51 innings. He walked 20 and gave up four runs.

 

Oneri Fleita, the Cubs' director of player development, wants Valdez in the big league camp this spring to get a better feel for his ability. The left-hander once pitched for the Cuban National team.

I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct?

I'd guess that the more recent age has been adjusted for the truth.

When was he signed again?

 

By the way, according to Cubanball.com, he was invited on November 22nd.

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

[Jon]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

[T2E]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

 

Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul

[Jon]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

 

Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul

Impressive and crazy good, yeah.

 

Do you know if he went down there specifically to pitch out of the pen? I read one game report that referred to him as the emergency starter.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

 

Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul

Impressive and crazy good, yeah.

 

Do you know if he went down there specifically to pitch out of the pen? I read one game report that referred to him as the emergency starter.

 

He had problems getting a visa and into the U.S. so he was stuck in the DSL instead (old thread on Valdez).

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What's the competition like in the DSL? And no internet jokes either. :)

[Tim]

What's the competition like in the DSL? And no internet jokes either. :)

Mmmm...high school all-star teams, maybe?

[Shawon12]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

 

Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul

 

Yeah, these stats are sick none the less. Do we actually own his rights or just invite him to camp? Could he have been picked in the Rule 5 by someone?

[Tim]

He must have been signed after the media guides were printed in the spring because he doesn't appear in there. However, he pitched the full season in the DSL.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

 

Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul

 

Yeah, these stats are sick none the less. Do we actually own his rights or just invite him to camp? Could he have been picked in the Rule 5 by someone?

They're sick stats, but given his age they really don't tell us much. We own his rights without adding him to the 40 man roster for two more years. If we add him to the 40 man at that time, we'll own his rights without putting him on the 25 man roster for three more years.

 

But after five years, he'll have to make the team, or else. Of course, he'll also be, what, 32 at that point? :D

[UK1679666180]

He did pitch in the Dominican Winter League last year as well and put up decent not spectacular numbers.

[CuseCubFan69]

Didn't he pitch for that Bronx team in the Little League World Series a few years ago?

[craig]

The DSL is considerably weaker than even the Mesa rookie league team. If you put John Koronka or Jermaine Van Buren or Mark Guthrie in the rookie league, it's entirely possible they could put up stats just as "sick" as Valdez's.

 

Who knows what his numbers mean. But at age 27, if he's been somebody with an exceptional arm, he'd be known from Cuban action previously. I assume he gets the same interest that anybody with a lefty gets. Three of the four minor leaguers who got rostered this winter were lefties: Ohman, Koronka, and rohlicek. So I assume Valdez has interest as yet another name to throw into the possible lefty reliever bag. (We need to replace Mercker this year, and of course Remlinger's contract expires this season, so there are a couple of spots for low-salaried lefties.)

 

That Hendry or Fleita is interested in "looking at" Valdez in spring training is interesting, because they probably have little info on him. But whether they are "looking at" him as a candidate to fill a Daytona roster spot or a WTenn roster spot is more the question in mymind. I hardly think he's being considered for a big-league spot.

 

While his age influences his career longevity and his potential to get better, of course it does *not* influence the fact that if he does reach the major leagues at some point, he will do so under the same salary guidelines as any young rookie. If he does surprise in full-season ball and eventually does become a major league reliever, even if it's at age 29, you'd still get three super-cheap years and then three more club-control-lesser-price years, age regardless.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Did anybody else notice that he had 10 wild pitches in 300 batters? Now I know that his catcher might not be the greatest due to the lack of talent in the league, but that still seems like a huge amount of wild pitches. Sort of scares me since he is 27 years old.

[Tim]

Did anybody else notice that he had 10 wild pitches in 300 batters? Now I know that his catcher might not be the greatest due to the lack of talent in the league, but that still seems like a huge amount of wild pitches. Sort of scares me since he is 27 years old.

His catcher was 17 year old Mario Mercedes who probably has never caught anyone else with anywhere close to the same stuff.

[JC]

He did pitch in the Dominican Winter League last year as well and put up decent not spectacular numbers.

 

After visiting the Iowa site, I couldn't remember what he was touted as prior to the season, so I dug up this old thread.

 

UK's words are prophetic in that he would be nothing spectacular. However, I wish he would at least return to decent:

 

Raul Valdes 5 6 6.09 20 14 0 0 1 81.1 119 60 55 4 32 59