1994 Rookie of the Year Countdown - Jose Valentin

This is the third edition of our Tuesday look at the countdown to the Rookies of the Year in 1994, today we examine former Brewers and White Sox shortstop Jose Valentin.

Valentin was signed by the San Diego Padres in 1986 out of Fernando Callejo HS in Manati, Puerto Rico.  That high school has produced four other major leaguers, including younger brother Javier Valentin and some guy named Carlos Beltran.  The following season, he was sent to Spokane of the Northwest League where he hit .250 with an OPS of .670.  That’s not too bad I guess for a 17 year old, but combined with his .914 fielding percentage, he still had some way to go to be ready for prime time.

By the time that 1991 came around, at AA Wichita, he raised his average all the way to .251, but with his increased pop (17 home runs), he raised his OPS to .771.  His fielding was still an ugly .939 though.  But with the Padres acquiring franchise shortstop Tony Fernandez for the 1991 season, there was no room for Valentin, so he was flipped with Ricky Bones and Matt Mieske to the Brewers for Geoff Kellogg and Gary Sheffield.  Fernandez would only be with the Padres for one more season.

Valentin was seemingly blocked again in Milwaukee in 1992 with Pat Listach having the best season of his career on his way to the Rookie of the Year award that year.  Valentin would make his major league debut on September 17^th of that season, pinch running for Hall of Famer Paul Molitor in a 10-4 blowout of the Red Sox.  Roger Clemens allowed eight runs that game, but only three were earned on five Red Sox errors.  Valentin would come around to score in the eighth inning on a B.J. Surhoff triple.  He would get his first at bat and career RBI on October 3^rd.

Valentin would have to wait until September 8^th of the following year to get his first major league hit off of the Royals Hipolito Pichardo in a Brewers 2-1 win.  A week later, he’d get the first home run off of Yankees hurler Rich Monteleone.  He’d finish the 1993 season with a .245 average and a home run in 19 games.

By this time, the Brewers figured he had nothing left to show in the minors, so for the 1994 season, he would have full time employment.  The fact that Listach totally tanked in his sophomore season probably helped them make that decision.  Valentin didn’t start opening day, as that honor went to Brewers legend Bill Spiers, but by the time late April came around, he was the full time starter.  

Through April 20^th, Valentin only had two plate appearances in five games, but in the last six games that month, Valentin started five of them.  He didn’t really have anything to show for it though, and his numbers that month hardly screamed Rookie of the Year.  He’d finish April with a .222 average with two doubles, three RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases.  He had four strikeouts vs. two walks.  But with Listach out the rest of the season, someone had to play short.

1995 Leaf has to be one of
my favorite sets of all time.

May was another tough month at the plate for Valentin.  He played in all but four of the Brewers games that month, and he only rewarded them with a .217 average.  He’d add six doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, 13 runs and three stolen bases that month.  He struck out 13 times vs. 7 walks.  After a 13-9 start in April, the Brewers went 7-21 in May.

June would prove to be a better month for Valentin.  He set the pace for the month, collecting three hits on the first day and raising his season batting average from .218 to .242 with that effort.  Overall for the month, he’d hit .287 with five doubles, three home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs and one stolen base.  The key to his success was simple – swing at everything.  That month, he had an incredible 26 strikeouts vs. just six walks.

Valentin’s awful batting average returned in July, but he was starting to develop his power.  In a span of six games, he hit his first career grand slam off of the Royals Tom Gordon, and added two more three run home runs.  He finished the month with a .217 average, six doubles, four home runs, 15 RBIs, 14 runs and five stolen bases.  The strikeouts were still high at 27, but he did increase his walks to 18.

In the waning days of the 1994 season, Valentin was not that good, but was consistent.  In the final 10 games in August, he hit .214 with two home runs, five RBIs, six runs and a stolen base.  He had five strikeouts vs. five walks.

Valentin’s final numbers pretty much show you why he finished in ninth place in the voting.  He had a .239 average, 19 doubles, 11 home runs, 46 RBIs, 47 runs and 12 stolen bases.  Not too bad for a bottom of the order rookie shortstop.  He finished second in the league in errors – first as a shortstop – with 20 that season, good for a .954 fielding percent.  Sadly, that was only slightly below his career fielding percent of .960.

Why would they keep trotting him out to play shortstop?  His 249 career home runs rank 209^th all time.  That’s good for fifth place all time among shortstops.  And it didn’t stop there.  To get that power in the lineup, Valentin would be sent out to play every position except pitcher and catcher in his career.

Valentin's ninth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting was the only time he was voted for anything.  He was never an All Star, and never a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger (although with him hitting so many home runs, it’s a wonder he DIDN’T win a Gold Glove).  He hit 10 or more home runs in 11 straight seasons, and the last five of those, from 2000 to 2004, his entire White Sox career, he had 25 or more each season.  He hit 90 home runs in his stint with Milwaukee, which ran through the end of the 1999 season.

Before the 2000 season, Valentin was traded to the White Sox with Cal Eldred for Jamie Navarro and John Snyder.  Valentin then had the best season of his career, hitting a career best .273 with 25 home runs which was also a career high at the time.  He went on to hit a total of 136 with the White Sox, but his batting average fell each year.  By the time 2004 came around, his average was all the way down to .216, and that same year, he hit 30 home runs.  He also had 139 strikeouts.  He was like Adam Dunn without the walks.

That was the beginning of the end for Valentin.  He signed with the Dodgers before 2005.  In an injury shortened season, he only batted .170 with two home runs in 147 at bats.

He had a bit of a resurgence with the Mets in 2006, hitting .271 with 18 home runs while playing first, second, third, left and right.  The following year with the Mets would be his last, as his average fell back to .241 with only three home runs.  He would play his final game on July 20^th, 2007, getting a hit off of the Dodgers Brett Tomko in his final at bat.

Speaking of Prime Time...

In combing over his stats, I came across an interesting tidbit from his career.  He actually played in six games for the Louisville RiverBats in 1999.  Affiliated with the Brewers at the time, in six games, he went 5 for 20 with four walks and three strikeouts.  That was good for a .250 batting average, but his OPS was 1.075.  Three of those hits were home runs.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the utterly pedestrian career of Jose Valentin.  By hanging around for 16 seasons, he amassed enough stats to be vaguely remembered.  The next player we will examine is former golfer Mets pitcher Bobby Jones.