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No Deal Between D-Backs, Valverde

By Steve Adams | December 17, 2013 at 10:25am CDT

10:25am: Valverde told Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes that he does not have a deal with the Diamondbacks and has recently switched agents. Formerly with Scott Boras, he is now represented by Praver/Shapiro (Spanish Twitter links).

8:15am: The Diamondbacks and Jose Valverde have agreed to terms on a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).

With this deal, the 36-year-old Valverde returns to the organization that signed him as an international free agent in 1997. "Papa Grande" spent the first five seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks (2003-07), leading the National League with 47 saves in his final season there. He was then traded to the Astros for Chris Burke, J.C. Gutierrez and Chad Qualls that offseason.

Most recently, Valverde is known for his work with the Tigers. Valverde posted a 3.00 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 110 saves from 2010-12. However, he began to unravel late in the 2012 season and in the 2012 playoffs. He would eventually return to the Tigers in May 2013, briefly solidifying the closer role before allowing six home runs in eight appearances. The end result was a 5.59 ERA that caused the Tigers to designate Valverde for assignment.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Jose Valverde

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View Comments (41)
Post a Comment

41 Comments

  1. John Kreese

    12 years ago

    Papa Grande back in the desert! Low risk, medium reward potential.

    Reply
    • Rally Weimaraner

      12 years ago

      High risk of fighting with Montero if he makes the MLB club…

      Reply
      • Shawn Bronald

        12 years ago

        My thoughts exactly. What the hell is Towers thinking? Hopefully he considered team morale before making the signing. If Miggy and Valverde have patched things up, that’s great.

        Reply
  2. AZDbacksfan1

    12 years ago

    Wow. This was unexpected.

    Reply
  3. unclejesse40

    12 years ago

    I have no proof to back this up but I think this might be the slowest pitcher in baseball. It seems like he takes about 2 minutes between each pitch when he was trying to close out a game.

    Reply
    • MeowMeow

      12 years ago

      Have you ever seen Papelbon pitch?

      Reply
    • Lord of the Fries

      12 years ago

      I’m pretty sure that Valverde is incredibly slow on the mound. I’m not sure if he’s the slowest though. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Dice-K.

      Reply
      • Joe Valenti

        12 years ago

        Me and my Dad are Mets fans living in Boston so we will flip between the Mets and Red Sox. You can watch 2 Mets game pitches between each Red Sox pitch. It’s like clock work, it almost never fails. It’s why I can’t watch Yankees Red Sox games anymore. Those 2 teams are just so slow

        Reply
      • Joe Valenti

        12 years ago

        Me and my Dad are Mets fans living in Boston so we will flip between the Mets and Red Sox. You can watch 2 Mets game pitches between each Red Sox pitch. It’s like clock work, it almost never fails. It’s why I can’t watch Yankees Red Sox games anymore. Those 2 teams are just so slow

        Reply
    • GriffeyandSizemore

      12 years ago

      Josh Beckett can bore you to sleep between pitches.

      Reply
    • Mike LaRose

      12 years ago

      I recall seeing stats during Mets games that Dice K and Buchholz were the slowest pitchers

      Reply
    • letsgogiants

      12 years ago

      Pretty sure Rafael Betancourt is the slowest. Even his delivery is slow.

      Reply
  4. DiehardDbak

    12 years ago

    Damn it

    Reply
  5. Hanley

    12 years ago

    Dodgers still the team to beat

    Reply
    • Rally Weimaraner

      12 years ago

      No way, this MINOR LEAGUE deal catapults the D-Backs to first place!

      Reply
    • Rally Weimaraner

      12 years ago

      No way, this MINOR LEAGUE deal catapults the D-Backs to first place!

      Reply
    • Rook

      12 years ago

      Maybe not. If the Dbacks give Papa Grande a contract for $120 million a year, they will be right there neck and neck with the Dodgers!!

      Reply
  6. troy

    12 years ago

    Just glad it wasnt Detroit doing this again. Papa raised my blood pressure. Even when he saved a game.

    Reply
  7. Jason Ward

    12 years ago

    Valverde and Montero HATE each other, I don’t see how this will work out. I like that they are trying to find good quality arms at a cheap price, the thing that may work out here is it doesn’t allow a team like LA or SF to get this guy and turn him back into his former self.

    Reply
    • Joe Valenti

      12 years ago

      I forgot about this. Good point. Some starters have special catchers. Are we about to set the precedent of the 7th inning personal catcher?

      Reply
    • Joe Valenti

      12 years ago

      I forgot about this. Good point. Some starters have special catchers. Are we about to set the precedent of the 7th inning personal catcher?

      Reply
  8. James O'Donnell

    12 years ago

    Time to trade Addison Reed!

    Reply
    • letsgogiants

      12 years ago

      If I were a D-Backs fan, I would be scarred of Tower’s moves.

      Reply
  9. PurpleLemon

    12 years ago

    The Big Potato!

    Reply
  10. Rook

    12 years ago

    Hopefully guys like Barrett, Stites and Mateo have good springs. I’d much rather see some of the young guys pitch than Valverde.

    Reply
    • mmiller54

      12 years ago

      I agree that I’d rather see them… but if Valverde can be somewhat effective for a few months then I’d rather not start their service clocks.

      Reply
      • Rook

        12 years ago

        Not worried about the service clock on the relief pitchers myself. The team may very well take that approach with Bradley though.

        Reply
    • mmiller54

      12 years ago

      I agree that I’d rather see them… but if Valverde can be somewhat effective for a few months then I’d rather not start their service clocks.

      Reply
  11. Guest 3923

    12 years ago

    This is really funny in the context of Vaverders 2010 remarks:

    Valverde said he would have liked to have returned to the Diamondbacks when he was a free agent in the off-season, but he said they offered him “something stupid.”

    “Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.”

    Now Valverde is back with the D-Backs on a minor League deal, what a slap in the face.

    Reply
    • vtadave

      12 years ago

      Considering Valverde has earned in excess of $40 million playing baseball, I’m sure the slap didn’t sting too bad.

      Reply
      • JohnnyM

        12 years ago

        Montero’s current contract alone is worth 66 million.

        Reply
  12. Guest 3923

    12 years ago

    This is really funny in the context of Vaverders 2010 remarks:

    Valverde said he would have liked to have returned to the Diamondbacks when he was a free agent in the off-season, but he said they offered him “something stupid.”

    “Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.”

    Now Valverde is back with the D-Backs on a minor League deal, what a slap in the face.

    Reply
  13. Rally Weimaraner

    12 years ago

    Remember in 2010 when Valverde said: “Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.” Now Valverde is back on a minor league deal, Montero is going to have fun with that one.

    Reply
  14. Rally Weimaraner

    12 years ago

    Well no deal with the D-Back sounds more like Valverde, they must have offered him “something stupid” again.

    Reply
  15. formerdraftpick 2

    12 years ago

    Love it. MLBdrama!

    Reply
  16. formerdraftpick 2

    12 years ago

    Love it. MLBdrama!

    Reply
  17. Trock

    12 years ago

    Well, that de-escelated quickly….

    Reply
  18. Trock

    12 years ago

    Well, that de-escelated quickly….

    Reply
  19. liberalconservative

    12 years ago

    Looks like John heyman jumped a little to quick and got punked.

    Reply
  20. mack22 2

    12 years ago

    Anytime Scott Boras loses a client that’s good news

    Reply
  21. ConstantinusMagnus

    12 years ago

    Please KT, no. Back away from the table. Enough. Don’t ruin the good vibe I feel for you for successfully dumping Heath Bell’s contract. Concentrate on getting Tanaka or Garza if that’s a no-go. What could possibly be the question that Jose Valverde answers for the D-backs?

    Reply

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