Astros sign minor league FA Jose Valdez

by OremLK on Nov 20, 2009 4:56 PM CST

Brian McTaggart reports via Twitter that the Astros have signed a minor league free agent coming out of the Yankees system. Jose Valdez (27, RHP) pitched 19.1 innings at their AAA club this year, the proud owner of a 4.19 ERA, 18 strikeouts, and 10 walks. In past seasons, he's struck out around one batter per inning, but walked more than one batter every two innings last season at AA. His control was much better at lower levels, however.

He doesn't have a lot of experience under his belt, but he looks like another promising penny-pinching pickup for the bullpen, ala Jeff Fulchino and Alberto Arias. I couldn't find scouting reports on his pitches and velocity, but I'm going to assume he's a pretty hard thrower given his strikeout rate.

****HLP EDIT****

FanGraphs Page

Scout.com assessment:

Jose Valdez spent the majority of 2009 in the bullpen of the Trenton Thunder with the exception of a month with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. After showing improvement in his repertoire in July and August, the 6-foot-4, 186 pound Valdez was promoted to Scranton and is ready to contribute.

Ok, so obviously take this assessment with a huge grain of salt, but at one time Valdez was highly thought of in comparison to other Yankee prospects:

Jose Valdez has the highest ceiling..

Of course those other prospects were guys like Chien Ming Wang and Drew Henson...bottom line- the guy missed the boat on being a stud, but he comes as a bargain and an extra arm in case Valverde and/or Hawkins aren't resigned, Wes Wright gets moved to the rotation, etc.

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For what it’s worth, Valdez is included in the 2010 projections for the Yankees. ZIPS doesn’t think his major league numbers will be good, but that’s not surprising for a minor leaguer.
ZIPS projection, 2010
Valdez line: 6.16 ERA 3W 5L 42G 2GS 57.0IP 62H 39ER 10HR 40K 40BB 74ERA+

This doesn’t mean much, but since we didn’t have much other information on him, I posted it.

by clack on Nov 20, 2009 6:19 PM CST reply actions

stros added 4 right handed relievers to their 40 man roster

hopefully that means valverde and hawkins wont be back, of course if we dont offer them arbitration, i will be seriously angry to say the least

by strosfan31 on Nov 21, 2009 2:59 AM CST reply actions

I doubt that any of those 4 relief pitchers will be on the 25 man roster when the season starts. The Astros are just protecting them so that they can play at AAA and AA next year.

by clack on Nov 21, 2009 8:32 AM CST up reply actions

For what it's worth...

A couple of Yankees’ blogs express puzzlement that any major league team would add Valdez to its 40 man roster. Both blogs say they aren’t surprised that Valdez would sign a minor league contract with another team, but putting him on a 40 man roster is big surprise.

This blog appears to be the Trenton minor league reporter, and he wishes Valdez well.

This reporter’s blog calls Valdez an “organizational player” at this point in his career, stating:

He put up good numbers but was basically a guy who could fill a bullpen role in Double-A and Triple-A. When he came to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, he was the last guy in the pen. Never remotely close to a big league call-up.

by clack on Nov 22, 2009 4:29 PM CST reply actions

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