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.
