Pedro Valdés

Pedro Jose Valdés Manzo

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Carlos Escobar Lopez High School
• Debut May 15, 1996
• Final Game October 1, 2000
• Born June 29, 1973 in Fajardo, P.R.

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Biographical Information

Pedro Valdés has played professional baseball in quite a few countries. From 1990-2000, he played in the USA, coming to the majors in 1996, 1998, and 2000. He fairly frequently hit over .300 in the minors, including in the Pacific Coast League in 1999 and 2000. From 2001 to 2004 he played in Japan, showing good power. In 2005 and 2006 he played in Mexico. In 2007 he was playing in Korea.

He is considered the best hitter in Oklahoma RedHawks history. [1]

He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 1990 amateur draft, and he began his professional career that season. He also played in 1991. In 1992, he played for the Geneva Cubs and Peoria Chiefs, hitting a combined .260 with 5 home runs and 44 RBI in 99 games. He played for Peoria and the Daytona Cubs in 1993, hitting .302 with 15 home runs and 85 RBI in 125 games. In 1994, he played for the Orlando Cubs, hitting .282 with 1 home run and 37 RBI in 116 games. With the Orlando Cubs again in 1995, he hit .300 with 7 home runs and 68 RBI in 114 games. He was a Southern League All-Star that year.

Valdés earned his big league debut in 1996, although he spent most of the season with the Iowa Cubs, hitting .295 with 15 home runs and 60 RBI in 103 games with them. On May 16th, he made his major league debut against the Houston Astros. Pinch-hitting for Doug Jones, he struck out in his first and only at-bat of the game. Overall, he played in 9 games that year, hitting .125 in 8 at-bats.

He played for Iowa again in 1997, hitting .284 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI in 125 games. With Iowa for the third year in a row in 1998, Valdés hit .314 with 17 home runs and 40 RBI in 65 games with them. He made his way back to the big leagues that season, where he hit .217 in 23 at-bats. He was released by the Cubs on December 8th.

On January 12, 1999, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox. However, he was released on April 5th. A couple of weeks later, on April 18th, he was signed by the Texas Rangers, and it was in their organization that he had his best season to that point. Playing for the Tulsa Drillers and Oklahoma RedHawks, Valdés hit .329 with 22 home runs and 76 RBI in 121 games. He followed that with another solid season in 2000, hitting .332 with 16 home runs and 78 RBI for the RedHawks. He played in 30 big league games that season, hitting .278 with 1 home run and 5 RBI in 54 at-bats. He appeared in his final big league game on October 1st.

Overall, Valdés hit .247 with 1 home run and 8 RBI in 85 big league at-bats.

Purchased by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks on December 1, 2000, Valdés played in Japan for the next four seasons. For Fukuoka in 2001, he hit .310 with 21 home runs and 81 RBI in 137 games. The following year, in 2002, he hit .303 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI fin 121 games. In 2003, he hit .311 with 26 home runs and 104 RBI, and in 2004 he hit .279 with 18 home runs and 74 RBI.

He was in the 2006 Caribbean Series, playing for the Gigantes de Carolina, representing Puerto Rico.