Baltimore Orioles designate Joe Mahoney for assignment, acquire Danny Valencia from Boston Red Sox
The Baltimore Orioles designated Joe Mahoney for assignment to clear some space on the 40-man roster as they traded infielder Danny Valencia from the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in exchange for cash considerations. Joe will be headed to Triple-A Norfolk
Tides.
The 28-year-old was last week designated for assignment by the Red Sox. He was acquired by the Boston from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for Jeremias Pineda in August of 2012. The Red Sox also traded their right-handed pitcher Sandy Rosario to Oakland Athletics
for cash considerations or a player to be later named.
Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president was pleased with the trade and saw a lot of potential in Danny. He was also impressed by the hitter’s ability to dominate left-handed pitchers and believed that with time Valencia should settle well at
the top level.
“His real strength to a team is his capability to hit left-handed pitching,” Dan Duquette said. “At his age and his experience level, there is no reason he shouldn’t be able to regain the level where he was a top vote-getter for Rookie of the Year.”
He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2006 in the 19th round. Skipping the senior year of college, he started his professional career. Although the third baseman had a lean year in 2012, with a mere batting average of .188 and a .199 on-base
percentage, his career numbers are far better. Danny has a career batting average of .257 and a .297 on-base percentage. His best year production wise was 2010 where he won many accolades for his great performance which was also his rookie year.
Danny is particularly good against left-handed pitchers, hitting with an average of .316 against them in 326 plate appearances over parts of three seasons in the Major League. The Orioles will be hoping that they can utilise his ability against the left-handers
to their advantage.
Valencia may not be getting a Major League start right away in 2013 as he will be facing competition from Manny Machado for third base spot. He is likely going to be part of the Orioles Triple-A affiliate Norfolk Tides early on.
He will also have to improve upon his fielding skills. His fielding percentage as a third baseman in 2012 was .965 and prior to that .949 in 2011. Better numbers at third base could help him get more play time in the Major League.
Considering his ability to dominate the left-handed pitchers, he could be an asset for the Baltimore Orioles. It will be important that he is properly utilised. Danny himself will have to make sure that he plays to his potential and makes sure that the poor
show in 2012 was just a temporary slide in the form.
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