The Phillies shipped starting pitcher Roberto Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 7th, their only trade before or after the trade deadline. In exchange, the Phillies received two players to be named later. The teams have named one, and he is a much higher draft pick than one might expect for a deal such as this.
The player is Jesmuel Valentin, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reported last night. Valentin was a supplemental first round pick of the Dodgerse in 2012. Valentin plays second base. The Dodgers website lists Valentin as the Dodgers number 13 prospect. The scouting report reads:
A teammate of Carlos Correa at the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Valentin signed for $984,700 as a supplemental first-round pick in 2012, the same year that the Astros made Correa the No. 1 overall choice. Valentin hasn't progressed as rapidly as Correa, and he struggled in his first shot at low Class A in '13. But the game seems to have slowed down for Valentin, and he fared well in a return to that level after moving to second base.
Valentin has been playing for the Dodgers low-A team, the Great Lakes Loons, essentially the equivalent of Class A Lakewood for the Phillies. It is unclear at this time if Valentin will report to Lakewood, or make a jump to Clearwater.
In low Class A, Valentin was having a nice year for the Loons. Valentin was hitting .280 with 22 doubles, nine triples, and seven home runs, along with 47 RBI and a .779 OPS. Valentin also stole 24 bases, getting caught seven times.
Watch him here:
