Philadelphia Phillies Acquire Jesmuel Valentin

One of the two Players to be Named Later in the Roberto Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers trade has been announced, and it was not a nobody.

Jesmuel Valentin is now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies system, where he will likely fit into their top 15 prospects on most sites just as he did for the Dodgers heading into the 2014 season. Valentin is an excellent defensive infielder who fits better at second base as he played there throughout high school given short was held down by a guy named Carlos Correa.

Valentin does not have any real power to speak of, with his seven home runs so far this season coming as a bit of a surprise, and isn’t a great base stealer, 24 at this point. He shows good discipline at the plate allowing for an OBP of .349 this season to go with his .280 average, and is slugging a career best .779.

There is a chance Valentin turns into a league average second baseman, but the 20 year olds more likely ceiling is that of a quality utility infielder. He is still in Low-A, so there is plenty of development to come, but the Phillies are desperate for young talent with big league profiles.

With Valentin added to the Phillies lower minors, they are starting to put together a halfway decent farm system that are 2+ years away from the bigs, but are still painfully lacking any big league ready talent. Look for the Phillies to make the second PTBNL a very low upside pitcher that can fit in their 40-man roster next season.