Alex Valdez (minors01)

Alexander Jawonn Valdez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 160 lb.
• Born September 2, 1984 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Alex Valdez played professionally from 2004 to 2021, but in affiliated ball Triple-A, played just 33 games.

He began his professional career in the Oakland Athletics system in 2004, remaining there until 2010. In 2005, he was second in the Arizona League in RBI with 39, behind Joe Dickerson's 40. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2009, playing a single game with no at-bats for the Sacramento River Cats. Despite posting a higher OPS in 2007, 2010 was perhaps his best season in the A's chain, as he hit .262/.318/.422 with 13 home runs, 74 RBI, 10 steals and 82 runs in 134 games for the Midland RockHounds. That year, he led the Texas League in games and at-bats (526). He tied Corey Brown, Derrick Robinson and Jon Gaston for second in the league with 8 triples, behind Jeremy Moore's 10. He was also second in plate appearances (574, behind Johnny Giavotella's 597). He played in the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals systems in 2011, before departing for the Mexican League.

It was in the Mexican League that he developed into a slugger, as he hit .359/.412/.597 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI his first year, 2012, and .310/.388/.597 with 22 homers and 82 RBI his second. His power output slipped in 2014 and 2015, but he rebounded to hit 30 home runs with 95 RBI and a .957 OPS in 2016. That year, he paced the loop in homers, extra base hits (56) and isolated power (.284), and was second in RBI (behind Diory Hernández's 97) and total bases (243, behind Jose Alvarez's 248). Though he hit double-digit homers each year from 2017 to 2019, he never eclipsed 20 again, with a high of 16 in 2019.

He was a regular face in the Dominican Winter League and also played in the Venezuelan Winter League and Mexican Pacific Winter League. He won the Dominican Winter League Rookie of the Year honor in 2010, when he hit .308/.363/.468 in 40 games for the Leones del Escogido.

In the affiliated minors, he hit .254/.314/.397 with 44 home runs and 325 RBI in 632 games over eight seasons. At all levels—including winter ball — he hit .277/.345/.454 with 1,796 hits, 209 homers, 1,019 RBI and 108 stolen bases over 17 seasons. He was a Northwest League Mid-Season All-Star in 2006, a Texas League Mid-Season All-Star in 2010, a MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2010 and a Mexican League Mid-Season All-Star in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

He served as the DSL Nationals co-hitting coach in 2023, alongside Freddy Guzman.