10:25am: Valverde told Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes that he does not have a deal with the Diamondbacks and has recently switched agents. Formerly with Scott Boras, he is now represented by Praver/Shapiro (Spanish Twitter links).
8:15am: The Diamondbacks and Jose Valverde have agreed to terms on a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
With this deal, the 36-year-old Valverde returns to the organization that signed him as an international free agent in 1997. "Papa Grande" spent the first five seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks (2003-07), leading the National League with 47 saves in his final season there. He was then traded to the Astros for Chris Burke, J.C. Gutierrez and Chad Qualls that offseason.
Most recently, Valverde is known for his work with the Tigers. Valverde posted a 3.00 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 110 saves from 2010-12. However, he began to unravel late in the 2012 season and in the 2012 playoffs. He would eventually return to the Tigers in May 2013, briefly solidifying the closer role before allowing six home runs in eight appearances. The end result was a 5.59 ERA that caused the Tigers to designate Valverde for assignment.
John Kreese
Papa Grande back in the desert! Low risk, medium reward potential.
Rally Weimaraner
High risk of fighting with Montero if he makes the MLB club…
Shawn Bronald
My thoughts exactly. What the hell is Towers thinking? Hopefully he considered team morale before making the signing. If Miggy and Valverde have patched things up, that’s great.
AZDbacksfan1
Wow. This was unexpected.
unclejesse40
I have no proof to back this up but I think this might be the slowest pitcher in baseball. It seems like he takes about 2 minutes between each pitch when he was trying to close out a game.
karkat
Have you ever seen Papelbon pitch?
Lord of the Fries
I’m pretty sure that Valverde is incredibly slow on the mound. I’m not sure if he’s the slowest though. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Dice-K.
Joe Valenti
Me and my Dad are Mets fans living in Boston so we will flip between the Mets and Red Sox. You can watch 2 Mets game pitches between each Red Sox pitch. It’s like clock work, it almost never fails. It’s why I can’t watch Yankees Red Sox games anymore. Those 2 teams are just so slow
Joe Valenti
Me and my Dad are Mets fans living in Boston so we will flip between the Mets and Red Sox. You can watch 2 Mets game pitches between each Red Sox pitch. It’s like clock work, it almost never fails. It’s why I can’t watch Yankees Red Sox games anymore. Those 2 teams are just so slow
GriffeyandSizemore
Josh Beckett can bore you to sleep between pitches.
Mike LaRose
I recall seeing stats during Mets games that Dice K and Buchholz were the slowest pitchers
letsgogiants
Pretty sure Rafael Betancourt is the slowest. Even his delivery is slow.
DiehardDbak
Damn it
Hanley
Dodgers still the team to beat
Rally Weimaraner
No way, this MINOR LEAGUE deal catapults the D-Backs to first place!
Rally Weimaraner
No way, this MINOR LEAGUE deal catapults the D-Backs to first place!
Rook
Maybe not. If the Dbacks give Papa Grande a contract for $120 million a year, they will be right there neck and neck with the Dodgers!!
troy
Just glad it wasnt Detroit doing this again. Papa raised my blood pressure. Even when he saved a game.
Jason Ward
Valverde and Montero HATE each other, I don’t see how this will work out. I like that they are trying to find good quality arms at a cheap price, the thing that may work out here is it doesn’t allow a team like LA or SF to get this guy and turn him back into his former self.
Joe Valenti
I forgot about this. Good point. Some starters have special catchers. Are we about to set the precedent of the 7th inning personal catcher?
Joe Valenti
I forgot about this. Good point. Some starters have special catchers. Are we about to set the precedent of the 7th inning personal catcher?
James O'Donnell
Time to trade Addison Reed!
letsgogiants
If I were a D-Backs fan, I would be scarred of Tower’s moves.
PurpleLemon
The Big Potato!
Rook
Hopefully guys like Barrett, Stites and Mateo have good springs. I’d much rather see some of the young guys pitch than Valverde.
mmiller54
I agree that I’d rather see them… but if Valverde can be somewhat effective for a few months then I’d rather not start their service clocks.
Rook
Not worried about the service clock on the relief pitchers myself. The team may very well take that approach with Bradley though.
mmiller54
I agree that I’d rather see them… but if Valverde can be somewhat effective for a few months then I’d rather not start their service clocks.
Guest 3923
This is really funny in the context of Vaverders 2010 remarks:
Valverde said he would have liked to have returned to the Diamondbacks when he was a free agent in the off-season, but he said they offered him “something stupid.”
“Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.”
Now Valverde is back with the D-Backs on a minor League deal, what a slap in the face.
vtadave
Considering Valverde has earned in excess of $40 million playing baseball, I’m sure the slap didn’t sting too bad.
JohnnyM
Montero’s current contract alone is worth 66 million.
Guest 3923
This is really funny in the context of Vaverders 2010 remarks:
Valverde said he would have liked to have returned to the Diamondbacks when he was a free agent in the off-season, but he said they offered him “something stupid.”
“Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.”
Now Valverde is back with the D-Backs on a minor League deal, what a slap in the face.
Rally Weimaraner
Remember in 2010 when Valverde said: “Tell Montero he’s a freaking rookie and I can do whatever I want to . . . Tell Montero he has two years (in the majors) and I have eight.” Now Valverde is back on a minor league deal, Montero is going to have fun with that one.
Rally Weimaraner
Well no deal with the D-Back sounds more like Valverde, they must have offered him “something stupid” again.
formerdraftpick 2
Love it. MLBdrama!
formerdraftpick 2
Love it. MLBdrama!
Trock
Well, that de-escelated quickly….
Trock
Well, that de-escelated quickly….
liberalconservative
Looks like John heyman jumped a little to quick and got punked.
mack22 2
Anytime Scott Boras loses a client that’s good news
ConstantinusMagnus
Please KT, no. Back away from the table. Enough. Don’t ruin the good vibe I feel for you for successfully dumping Heath Bell’s contract. Concentrate on getting Tanaka or Garza if that’s a no-go. What could possibly be the question that Jose Valverde answers for the D-backs?