Tribe Announces Signing of Free Agents Merchan and Valdez
CLEVELAND, OH—The Cleveland Indians today announced the minor league free agent signings of INF JESUS MERCHAN and INF WILSON VALDEZ. Each player has also received a non-roster invitation to Major League camp in February in Goodyear, AZ.
Merchan, 27, owns a career minor league average of .294 (811-2761) over 9 professional seasons in the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations. He was originally signed into the Twins system in 1999. During the 2008 season Merchan batted .339 (148-436) with 50 runs scored, 23 doubles, 5 triples, 4HR and 72RBI with AAA Tucson (Arizona), with his .339 average ranking 4th best in the Pacific Coast League. He appeared in 114 games with the Sidewinders making 107 starts at shortstop, 3 at second base, 2 at third base and one in the outfield.
Valdez, 30, owns a career Major League average of .211 (54-256) with 29 runs scored, 10 doubles, 2 triples, a HR and 20RBI in 111 games covering parts of three seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2007 he appeared in 41 games with the Dodgers batting .216. He owns a career minor league average of .288 (1129-3918) with 25HR and 339 RBI in 1,042 career minor league games covering 11 seasons. Valdez split the 2008 season playing in Korea and Japan. With the Kia Tigers (Korea) he batted .218 (34-156) with 17 runs scored, 9 doubles, a triple, a HR, 16RBI and 13 stolen bases in 47 games while batting .256 (20-78) with 8 runs scored, a double, a HR, 8RBI and 4 stolen bases in 29 games for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Japan).
The Cleveland Indians now have a total of five (5) non-roster players invited to Major League camp in February.
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
