Toronto received Luis Valbuena in exchange for cash considerations from the Cleveland Indians. Low risk, possibly a good return. Valbuena has always showed promise, especially at AAA where in 2011 he hit .302 had a .372 OBP and had 17 homers with 75 RBI’s in 113 games. He’s played 229 games in the majors but the 25 year old hasn’t really put it together up there. He’s a very good fielding 2B, and can be used as a utility player due to his versatility. The offense though, he shows promise but Cleveland didn’t think that was enough to keep him on the 40 man roster so they moved him down to make room on it, and Toronto snatched him up to put him on their 40. I like the move by Toronto, he’s still young and has potential, and at very worst I think he could at least be a productive bench player. At this point he seems to be in a battle with Mike McCoy for the 2B job, with Kelly Johnson likely to decline arbitration, unless the Jays go out and sign or trade for someone else. In that case Valbuena and McCoy would likely be battling for a utility man spot off the bench. The Blue Jays have made moves like this before that worked out well. Jose Bautista was acquired from the Pirates in 2008 for a player to be named later. Bautista started out showing promise even with the pirates but never really put it all together consistently until the end of the ’09 season with the Jays. Could this be a case like Bautista, probably not quite as big of a steal, but Valbuena definitely has the potential to be a good starter if he can translate his 2011 season in AAA into the big leagues. This is an under the radar move that could help Toronto now and in the future as Valbuena is still young and could be a permanent fixture in their lineup if he can harness all the potential and produce. Alex Anthopoulos is a guy who has my trust, he’s made some good moves, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jays seriously contend in the near future even with a stacked division. They still have work to do but this is a good move.
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