Luis Valbuena, The Man Who Kept Kris Bryant's Seat Warm

[Brandon Glick]

As Kris Bryant tore through the minor league ranks after being drafted in 2013, the Cubs tasked Valbuena with holding down the fort at the hot corner.

The 2016-era teams are obviously the most fascinating from the last quarter century, but I've recently become interested in the pre-World Series teams (i.e., the ~2007-2014 teams) and what they did and didn't do that led to that fateful squad. Over on the Players Project, we've recently examined players like Jeff Samardzija and Junior Lake, and today, I wanted to write a full retrospective on the player who came just before Kris Bryant.

Luis Valbuena originally signed as a 19-year-old with the Seattle Mariners out Venezuela, raised by a single mother. He spent a few seasons working his way through their farm system, ultimately arriving at the big leagues for a September cup of coffee in 2008. Before he could make any noise in Seattle, though, the team traded him that offseason in a three-team deal with the Guardians and Mets. His tenure in Cleveland lasted through parts of three seasons, though he was DFAed once top prospect Jason Kipnis (another former Cub) was promoted in 2011. He was traded to the Blue Jays in November, for whom he never suited up.

The Cubs claimed Valbuena off waivers the day before Opening Day in 2012, marking the end of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer's first offseason with the club. Valbuena finally got some run time with the team after being recalled from Triple-A in June, slashing .219/.310/.340 in 90 games (303 plate appearances) as a 26-year-old. His performance left a lot to be desired. Still, the Cubs had little going on at the hot corner following Aramis Ramirez's departure (he signed with the Brewers following the 2011 season), so Valbuena got the nod as the Opening Day starter there in 2013. Just take a look at that lineup:

1. David DeJesus, CF
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Nate Schierholtz, RF
6. Welington Castillo, C
7. Luis Valbuena, 3B
8. Brent Lillibridge, 2B
9. Jeff Samardzija, P

Those are some NAMES right there. It's pretty amazing that in just three short years, every single one of those players was traded away and replaced besides Rizzo. That "five-year plan" Epstein had looked insane at the time, but he somehow pulled it off.

I digress. Valbuena played in 108 games (391 plate appearances) in 2013, both career highs. His 1.2 WAR was also a career-best at the time, as were his 12 home runs, 37 RBI, and 95 OPS+. It was still an underwhelming profile, but it was clear that Valbuena was improving. And, come 2014, Valbuena was the undisputed starter at third base, and he authored arguably the finest season of his career. He slashed .249/.341/.435 in 547 plate appearances, besting his previous career marks from the previous season. Of course, he was simply biding his time as the starter while a young prospect named Kris Bryant, the second overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, worked his way up the farm system, but Valbuena became a key component of those early-Epstein-era years. He also held off Mike Olt, a top third base prospect at one point (and another entrant into our Player's Project database).

On a personal note, the very first Cubs game I ever went to at Wrigley Field was on July 23, 2014 (I had seen other Cubs games when they were on the road, but I lived in New York at the time). In an otherwise nondescript game — besides the fact it was sub-50 degrees in the middle of July — Valbuena produced the only offense the Cubs got in an 8-3 loss, hitting a three-run home run off Ian Kennedy in the fourth inning to tie the affair at three apiece. It's a fond memory I still hold close, even as I now have much easier access to Wrigley and Cubs home games.

Perhaps his most important contribution to the team came off the field, as he (and pitcher Dan Straily) were dealt to the Houston Astros on January 19, 2015, in exchange for center fielder Dexter Fowler. Of course, Fowler would go on to be one of the most notable figures of the 2016 team as the leadoff hitter, and his leadoff home run against Corey Kluber in Game 7 of the World Series remains one of the most electrifying moments in baseball history (I am completely non-biased). Valbuena played two very productive seasons in Houston (accruing 4.9 WAR), earning himself a two-year contract in free agency with the Los Angeles Angels. His MLB playing days ended when he was DFA'd by the Angels in August 2018.

Tragically, Valbuena died on December 6, 2018, at just 33 years old. A group of robbers ambushed him and fellow professional baseball players José Castillo and Carlos Rivero on a highway in Venezuela following a game with Venezuelan winter team Cardenales de Lara. The car overturned, killing both Valbuena and Castillo. In all, he authored an impressive 11-year career and is heralded as one of the best Venezuelan players from his era.

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