Newest Red Sox prospect Enmanuel Valdez makes immediate impact after trade

New Red Sox prospect Enmanuel Valdez, acquired in Christian Vázquez trade, homers in Triple-A WooSox debut

By trading Christian Vázquez ahead of the deadline, the Boston Red Sox lost their longest-tenured player and added two new prospects to their burgeoning farm system.

In order to get Vázquez, the Houston Astros parted ways with infielder Enmanuel Valdez and outfielder Wilyer Abreu, and the former is already making quite a promising impression. In his first game with Triple-A WooSox, Valdez announced his arrival with a 363-ft homer.

Losing Vázquez – who’d been with the organization since being drafted in 2008, stings – but it’s encouraging to see Valdez succeeding. The Astros actually signed Valdez out from under the Sox in 2015, when he was 16 years old.Better yet, the young slugger says he grew up a Sox fan in the Dominican Republic:

"“It was my favorite organization growing up as a kid in the Dominican, and the Red Sox were actually going to sign me prior to my signing with the Astros. I’m happy that I’m here now, playing for the Red Sox.”"

It’s a familiar refrain among young Dominican players, who grew up idolizing Boston’s larger-than-life stars from their homeland:

"“Being from the Dominican, seeing Manny Ramirez play, Big Papi, and Hanley Ramirez, I looked up to those guys, all the success they had. Hopefully I can copy that.”"

With Ortiz still a huge part of the organization, Valdez will probably get to learn from one of his idols soon enough.