image from milb.com

The Jays sent some cash to the Giants today in order to grab 6’5″ 230 lbs RP Merkin Valdez, who was going to be lost by the Giants due to the need to make a spot for Aubrey Huff on their roster. It’s unclear how much cash the Jays sent the Giants, but it’s likely to be a small amount as Merkin has little chance of cracking the 2010 bullpen.

Things you need to know about Merkin (Mola) Valdez.

• He was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1999 when he was still known as Manuel Mateo. How you get from being called Manuel Mateo to being named Merkin Valdez is beyond me, but I have a feeling that “the artist formerly known as Prince” is a big influence in the Caribbean since many of the players from there seem to want to change their names. It couldn’t have anything to do with lying about their ages….could it? Never, they wouldn’t dare lie about that. So we don’t really know how old Valdez really is, unless you trust what is reported now – 28 years old.
• He was dealt to the Giants along with Damian Moss in 2002 in return for Russ Ortiz - pretty good trade for the Braves.
• His best year in the minors was in 2004 when he threw 15 games between HiA-AA-AAA as a starter for a total of 82.1 IP, 80 Ks, 24 BB, a 3.82 ERA and 1.154 Whip. So he has experience as a starter with limited success.
• 2005 was also a decent year for Merkin as he had similar stats in AA over 19 starts. 107 IP, 96 Ks, 3.53 ERA, 1.346 Whip.
• 2006 is the year the Giants converted him into a reliever and he went downhill from there. Although his Ks remained constant, his ERA shot up to 5.80 and whip to 1.832. It seems to me that he may be trying to blow guys away as a reliever and is throwing to hard instead of pitching since he believes that’s what’s required out of relievers.
• Merkin got his first real shot in the majors in 2008 as a reliever and 16 innings, with 13 Ks, a 1.69 ERA and 1.313 Whip. He followed that in 2009 with 49 IP, 38 Ks, 5.66 ERA and 1.723 Whip – essentially falling out of favor with the brass in San Francisco as a result.
• Felipe Alou once said that he would become “a heckuva closer. He’s hungry now and wants to get out of the Minor Leagues”. If true, it would a major steal for the Jays.

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image from MLB.com

The Jays and Royals didn’t make a trade this off season, but they did grab each other’s AAA OF depth guys. The Jays first took Joey Gathright, but he had already left the Royals a while ago and is much older than Buck Coats or Chris Lubanski. He also has some MLB time, which makes a direct comparison hard to do. So other than building the KC-TOR depth chart connections,  Gathright is not directly comparable to Coats. The Royals grabbed Coats on November 29th, and the Jays took Lubanski thereafter. Since neither of these players has huge upside, I thought it would be fun to compare whether the Jays improved their OF depth by adding Lubanski and letting Coats go.

Lubanski will be 25 in March, is 6’3″ and 205 lbs, bats left, and was selected in the 1st rd by KC in 2005. Since he was injured most of 2009, I’ll list his 2008 stats to compare:

393 AB, 95 hits, 20 doubles, 8 triples, 15 HRs, .242 avg, .306 OBP/.448 SLG / .754 OPS

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