New York Mets outfielder Jordany Valdespin was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday night, and it was a demotion he did not feel he deserved. The 25-year-old is hitting a measly .188 with 16 RBI and on-base percentage of .250 in his second MLB season, but that didn’t stop him from reportedly flipping out when he got the news.
According to Jorge Castillo of The Star-Ledger, people who witnessed the episode said Valdespin lost it and had to be calmed down by bullpen coach Ricky Bones.
“He’s not helping himself,” one person reportedly told Castillo. “Everyone gets upset when that happens, but you just need to shut up and pack your bags.”
Mike Puma of the NY Post reported that Valdespin screamed at manager Terry Collins when he was given the news, calling him a “c—sucker” and demanding that he be placed on the disabled list rather than demoted. No team would want a 25-year-old player who is struggling as badly as Valdespin to sit on the DL rather than take at-bats at the lower levels, but he obviously doesn’t get that.
“We’ve talked about this many times: It’s hard for a young player who has pretty much spent his whole career as an everyday player to come up and play, maybe, once a week and then come off the bench and hit,” Collins explained. “It’s very difficult. So he’s got to go get some playing time. He’s got to go get his swing back — certainly get back in the lineup. If he’s going to come back, at least he’s got to get some at-bats.”
No player enjoys being demoted, but acting like a child when it happens validates the decision even more. In addition to being unhappy with his performance at the plate, the Mets were also annoyed by Valdespin’s antics like pimping a home run while his team is trailing 7-1. Clearly he has a lot of growing up to do.
H/T Eye on Baseball
