Not a Rookie: Luis Valbuena
John Sickels did an article recently on Luis Valbuena in Sickels' "Not a Rookie" series. Talks about Valbuena's development through the Seattle Mariners minor league system and how both Sickels and Baseball America missed out on him during much of that time. Predicts that he will be an average second baseman, good pop, solid defense but with limited range that may detract from him being able to put up even average defensive numbers. One of the posters makes a point about Valbuena's ability to adjust when repeating levels, all at young ages, and the concensus seems to be that his BB% will rise this year as he's always had good BB/K rates in the minors, but didn't have it translate in his exposure at the major league level.



