Danny Valencia Era Begins

After several seasons without an everyday third baseman, the Twins may have found their man in Danny Valencia. Danny Valencia was drafted in 19th round of the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Miami (FL). He originally started the University of North Carolina- Greensboro, but decided to transfer back to his hometown of Miami, Florida and enroll at the U of Miami. The Twins were very surprised to find Danny still available in the 19th round and they quickly selected him. Danny then quickly signed with the Twins and reported to their advanced rookie team, Elizabethton.

He would climb the ladder of the Twins minor league system, where he spent the 2007 season at Beloit and Ft. Myers, where he would hit a combined .297 with 17 home runs and 66 runs batted in between the two leagues. He would start the 2008 season back at Ft. Myers where he would hit .336 with five home runs and 44 runs batted in before being promoted to Double-A New Britain.

He would continue his success at the minors by hitting .289 with ten home runs and 32 runs batted in at New Britain in 2008. After the 2008 season, some people thought he would start at Triple-A Rochester in 2009, but they decided to have him start the year at New Britain. But before he reported to New Britain, the Twins invited him as a non-roster invitee.

Danny continued to work on his offense and defense during the 2009 season at New Britain and Rochester. After the 2009 season, there was talk of Danny starting the 2010 season as the Twins third baseman. However, he would have to have a pretty good Spring Training to have a shot. Despite hitting .292 with two home runs, he was only able to drive in 4 runs. He was one of the last cuts in Spring Training, but he was sent to Rochester to work on his game for a little bit before they called him up.

That day arrived on June 3rd when he was called up to split time with Nick Punto at third base. He would go on to hit .360 in the month of June with four base on balls, nine strike outs. Not only was his bat strong, but his fielding was was even better. He has a very strong arm at third, although he isn’t as crazy as Punto is at third.

Danny had an even better month in July. He hit .508 and got his first major league home run, which happened to be a grand slam against Kansas City. Nick Punto was put on the DL in late July with a hamstring injury, so Danny is getting the full-time position at third. Hopefully he can keep up the good play and that he is up to stay for good.

I am very excited about Danny and look forward to following his big league career. Look for Danny to be around for many years to come and hopefully be a very solid third baseman that the Twins have been looking for.