Valdez' value a small price to pay for Phillies
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Valdez' value a small price to pay for Phillies
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Wilson Valdez, at the age of 33, is going to be eligible for salary arbitration this offseason for the first time in his career.
With the addition of Ty Wigginton, a right-handed power bat off the bench, the Phillies could probably save around $400,000 if they released Valdez and used Michael Martinez to fill the same role.
That would be a mistake for a couple of reasons.
The obvious one is defense. It could be argued that, with the exception of shortstop, the Phillies were a better defensive team the last two years whenever Valdez was in the lineup. That's not meant as a knock at either third baseman Placido Polanco or second baseman Chase Utley. It's more a reflection of just how good Valdez is with his glove and he's quite proficient at shortstop, too.
The less obvious reason to keep Valdez over Martinez is because of what the versatile infielder can do at the plate.
In his two seasons with the Phillies, Valdez has hit .254 with a .300 on-base percentage, 30 doubles, seven triples, five home runs and 65 RBIs. Nothing overly impressive about that and his biggest weakness is that he has a tendency to hit into double plays. He's grounded into 33 of them in the last two seasons.
But when you examine what Valdez has done with runners in scoring position, it separates him from most other bench players in baseball. In 2011, Valdez batted .370 (27-for-73) with six doubles, three triples and 28 RBIs.
That, of course, is a small sampling, but over the last two seasons, Valdez is hitting .329 (55-for-167) with 16 extra-base hits, 60 RBIs and a .390 on-base percentage in RISP situations. Sixty RBIs in 167 at-bats is an incredible number.
You could argue that because of those numbers, Valdez should have found his way onto one of manager Charlie Manuel's lineup cards in the postseason when a hobbled Polanco was obviously scuffling at the plate.
Martinez, who played as a 28-year-old rookie last season, had some sensational moments after making the 25-man roster as a Rule 5 draft pick from Washington. He also showed the ability to play the outfield, making perhaps the worst great catch in Phillies history when he tracked down a laser off Chipper Jones' bat to prevent an Atlanta win on the final night of the season.
That ball falls in and the Braves are headed to St. Louis for a one-game playoff and maybe the Cardinals never make it to Philadelphia let alone their 11th World Series title.
Anyway, Martinez batted .196 overall, but he also performed well with runners in scoring position, posting a .279 batting average, a .353 on-base percentage and a .911 OPS. His 23 RBIs in 43 at-bats with runners in scoring position also represent a remarkable number.
He made some great plays as an infielder, but also had a tendency to mess up the routine ones on occasion. Still, he was a solid bench player in his first big-league season.
Choosing between Martinez and Valdez will not be an easy decision and its importance should not be diminished, especially when you consider how many games Utley, Polanco and Jimmy Rollins have missed in recent seasons.
Unlike last year, Martinez can be optioned to the minor leagues without being offered back to the Nationals. From an organizational standpoint, the Phillies would be wise to keep Valdez on the big-league roster and send Martinez to the minors for insurance that they are almost certain to need at some point during the season.
Good article. As stated herein, the Phils should keep Valdez as their utility man and allow Martinez to get some more seasoning in the minors. If the Phils do not sign Reyes or resign Rollins, they should go with valdez as their everyday shortstop. He had better offensive production, better clutch hitting performance and better defense than most of the free agent shortstops in 2011.- I would keep him based on his pitching record alone alone— cdm48
- Valdez has done everything asked of him and more. He is a great little utility player and invaluable to the team. Definitely a keeper.— dogman5
- WWWWIIIIIILLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSOOOOOOONNNNNN!!!!!! has more quickness at 33 than many at 23! Plus he can pitch!! He is a keeper!— Eric the K
- Part time player hit into 33 double plays? Pretty bad— Ssteve115
- Valdez-KEEP, Martinez to Minors.— MooseBreathMints
- Valdez can pitch :)— roque32
- Wilson Valdez was almost the 2010 team MVP. His glove is outstanding, but man oh man, does the man have a gun for an arm. He threw guys out for short left field. He has a knack for big time hits when guys are in scoring position. On the other hand, Martinez didn't even make the Mendoza line at the plate. That in itself is worth a trip to become an Iron Pig. Until he can actually hit a ball, no need to be on a roster looking for playoff success. RAJ will make the right move.— drhoffman
- Valdez and martinez both win points on their scrappy Dominican energy, but Valdez is the more solid of the two, better overall skills. Keep Martinez happy with $100K down in AAA and give Valdez a real big league pay check for a year. Valdez can buy a town in the southwest of the DR for a couple month's big league salary.— BullZinski
- No meaningful difference between the two. Hitting with RISP when you get so few at bats is arbitrary. Valdez is arguably a better fielder, and has a great arm, but Martinez can play a little OF. I don't want either of them playing on any sort of a regular basis. The real question is who is the starting SS, and the answer is most certainly not Valdez or Martinez.— Phils Phan 28
- Wilson Valdez is well worth what he is paid. He actually does get some clutch hits, and can play nearly anywhere--even a little 18th inning close out!— BEMiller
- I'd start Valdez at SS. They won 70% of the games he started there last year. He always hustles and puts together good at-bats in clutch situations. He probably gives you 85% of Rollins at 1/10th the price with no long-term commitment, assuming Rollins doesn't play like he did in 2009-10 and can stay healthy too.— jtj06
- Dare we forget Valdez's relief appearance? Enough said!— walt1
- Haha tons of crazy talk here. First of all while Valdez is a good defender Polanco, Rollins, and Utley are all among the absolute best defenders at there position in all of baseball and in Utley and Polanco's cases they may be the best. I guess no one ever heard of Ultimate Zone Rating and Dewan's plus minus? Then we have a poster saying Valdez gives you 85% of what Rollins does really now? Jimmy Rollins is still a 3-4 WAR player while Valdez is about a .5 War player. Seriously put down the dops where Valdez is concerned. I have no problem bringing him back because every team needs a utility guy but get real.— brannigan73
- Not to make too big a deal of it, but I didn't see mentioned anywhere in the article or the comments that Valdez was absolutely the Phillies' best bunter in sac bunt situations.— Truth B. Told
