WhiteSox.com article on Robert Valido

[SSH2005]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws

Valido back on big league track

Suspension behind him, shortstop eager to impress

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Robert Valido had just finished off a 4-for-5 evening against Salem on May 10 of last season when he received a piece of news from Winston-Salem manager Chris Cron that basically sent him into a state of shock.

 

It wasn't the sort of news you hope for as a Minor Leaguer. It wasn't notification of a temporary promotion to the White Sox or even a jump from the Carolina League to the Southern League for the talented young shortstop.

 

Instead, the affable Valido heard the word that hung around baseball's neck like an albatross throughout much of the 2005 season -- steroids. Valido had tested positive and would have to serve a 15-game suspension.

 

"I couldn't believe it," said Valido. "I talked to my agent and my parents and nobody could believe it.

 

"Everyone knew I wasn't taking anything, but it definitely was embarrassing. It was a very tough situation."

 

Valido, who doesn't turn 21 until May 16, currently is taking part in his first Major League Spring Training with the White Sox as a non-roster invitee. The word 'steroids' is never even mentioned to Valido, unless some inquiring reporter wants to know about his immediate past.

 

The fourth-round pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft is considered a rising star in the organization, figuring to start the 2006 campaign with Double-A Birmingham. Manager Ozzie Guillen even mentioned Valido's name last week as a possible early spring replacement for Juan Uribe, if the team's starting shortstop wasn't in playing condition from the outset after reporting late because of travel visa problems.

 

Public trust from the man in charge gave the Miami native a strong sense of pride. It's a perfect situation for Valido to develop, as part of a World Series champion, with Guillen having been a pretty fair shortstop in his own right during his long playing career.

 

"He's also a teacher," said White Sox director of player development Dave Wilder of Guillen. "If you are a shortstop and don't become what you are supposed to become in this situation, you are not a big leaguer. Valido will be a big leaguer, an everyday shortstop."

 

"This kid has come a long way," added Guillen of Valido. "When we saw him last year, I thought he would be a pretty good shortstop, but I didn't think he's going to be that good so quick. His work ethic put him in the spot to be a big league prospect."

 

Valido's strong suits fit the style of baseball played under Guillen. He doesn't walk very often but he makes solid contact at the plate, with 151 strikeouts in 1,184 at-bats for the career .278 hitter. Valido handles the bat with great aplomb, leading Class A Kannapolis with 13 sacrifice hits in 2004.

 

His defense is smooth, with his error total dropping from 27 to 12 between 2004 and 2005, in only three fewer games played. But speed is Valido's most impressive skill, posting 97 stolen bases over three Minor League seasons. Valido swiped 52 in 2005 to lead the Carolina League and finish 10th overall among all Minor Leaguers.

 

The numbers bode well for a very impressive future, even for a player who hasn't always been given notoriety as one of the organization's top prospects.

 

"I like being that sleeper because people don't focus on you," Valido said with a smile. "You sneak up on them and it's like a big bang, I guess."

 

"He's going to be a prototypical shortstop, like shortstops used to be," Wilder said. "He's going to hit for average, run and bunt and do those sorts of things. The game is changing and our team showed that last year."

 

Guillen made reference to Valido's work ethic getting him into a position to compete at the Major League level. This same special work ethic left little doubt in anyone's mind within the White Sox organization that Valido was being completely honest when stating that he hadn't used steroids, even after the positive test.

 

During a recent interview, Valido reiterated that everything he had used was "straight supplements" and that it was "all legal stuff, bought over the counter." Valido added that he tested positive for Ephedra and a precursor steroid, while Wilder said that he was not able to talk about the specifics.

 

Valido pointed out that he came into 2004 camp at 192 pounds and weighed in at 195 pounds prior to the start of 2005. Dale Torborg, the White Sox Minor League conditioning coordinator, also had a long talk with Valido after the results were announced and came away 100 percent supportive of his explanation.

 

"I totally believe him," Torborg said of Valido. "He's such a great kid and a hard worker. He works hard in the weight room and on the field. It's just a shame.

 

"His body hasn't changed. That's why you look at it and feel sorry for him, because it was something where he thought he was doing the right thing by taking something over the counter but it's not that simple. That's why strength coaches are so important. Our job is to help them as much as we can."

 

Torborg pointed out the hairline difference that emerges between a positive and negative test. A player such as Valido could take an approved supplement, but that supplement could have been mixed in the same vat that had something on the positive list and simply wasn't cleaned right. With that issue in mind, Torborg is preaching good conditioning and good eating as a way to build the body, with a nutritionist coming to Tucson on March 8 to address the young White Sox charges.

 

"There are no quick answers to this, and that's why we really stress working hard and the diet and eating right," Torborg said. "It's the best way to go about it. The old fashioned blood sweat and tears is what will get you there."

 

Since the positive test last May, Valido has taken four tests and all four have come up completely clean.

 

"I've never been hit before or after," said Valido, who stayed sharp at extended Spring Training in Arizona during his suspension.

 

This most public of problems didn't slow down Valido. He hit .351 in June, his first full month back, and finished with an eye focused on 2006 and beyond. According to Guillen and Wilder, Valido is firmly in the White Sox plans.

 

Guillen also made it clear that one mistake is acceptable with any of his players. But there are no third chances.

 

"I think the competition makes you do stupid things and I hope he learned from that. It's a mistake you learn as a kid," Guillen said. "There's no doubt about the second chance.

 

"But if you keep making mistakes ... I hope this is the last mistake he makes because I told them in the meeting, 'You get caught doing something you are not supposed to do and you be aware, I'm not going to come in here and protect you. I'm not going to put myself on the spot and the organization on the spot to try to cover up something I shouldn't.'"