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Background
Eduardo Escobar came to the Minnesota Twins on July 28, 2012, along with Pedro Hernandez in exchange for lefty Francisco Liriano. He had been the White Sox main utility infielder that season. That is the role he played for the Twins in the first half of the 2013 season before spending part of the second half in Rochester.
Escobar will turn 26 years old in early January. He comes from Venezuela and is again playing this winter for the Tigres de Aragua.
2014 Season
Out of options, Escobar earned a spot on the 2014 25-man roster. However, about a month into the season, the incumbent shortstop Pedro Florimon was optioned to Rochester. Escobar took over as the regular shortstop, and he was able to keep it thanks to a breakout season.
He played in 133 games which is eight games more than he had played over his three previous seasons in the big leagues. He hit .275/.315/.406 (.721) which equates to an OPS+ of 102. So, he was two percent better offensively than an average MLB player, which is very good. And, when you put it into perspective relative to other shortstops, he posted a 2.3 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) according to fangraphs.com. Put into another perspective, fangraphs.com also says that he was worth $12.7 million.
Business of Baseball
As a player who had not yet reached arbitration, Escobar made just a little big over the league minimum, approximately $510,000. After 2014, he was nearly a Super-2 guy, but he fell just short. In other words, in 2015, he will get a raise, but it will most likely be well less than $600,000.
Role in 2015
At Tuesday’s press conference, it came out that the plan is still for Danny Santana to make the move in to shortstop from centerfield. In addition, Trevor Plouffe will man the hot corner, and Brian Dozier will be at second base. Combined, this would mean a return to the utility role for Eduardo Escobar in 2015.
Is that the right choice? That is certainly debatable and at the heart of this article.
Danny Santana came up through the minor leagues as a shortstop. There was some hope that he could potentially be a guy whose name is put in the lineup most every day for several years in a row. When he came up to the Twins early in the season, it was to play shortstop, but Escobar earned the job. With Aaron Hicks struggling again with the bat, Santana was given an opportunity to play centerfield. He didn’t give up that job. Santana hit better than anyone could have expected, well beyond the offensive numbers he racked up throughout his minor league career. Although he was not a natural outfielder and struggled with some of the fine points of the position, he played an adequate centerfield. Of course, his defensive reputation at shortstop in the minor leagues was not sterling either.
One of the reasons there was a desire to move Santana from centerfield was the imminent arrival of Byron Buxton. With Buxton’s frustrating 2014 season, the likelihood of him showing up at Target Field before August or September is probably very low.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Escobar did the job at shortstop. He not only hit, but he played a very solid defensive shortstop. However, the decision to move Santana back to shortstop indicates that the Twins brass sees Escobar’s 2014 as a fluke and believe that he is more valuable to the team as a utility infielder.
Was Escobar’s 2014 season a fluke? Was Santana’s 2014 season a fluke? Of course, an other factor might be who will be available this offseason in a trade or via free agency.
Maybe the following question must be asked. Would the Twins be better in 2015 with Eduardo Escobar at shortstop, Danny Santana in center and a question mark in left field, or would they be better with Santana at shortstop, Escobar on the bench and question marks at two outfield positions? Equally important, what is best for the overall future of the Minnesota Twins?
These are decisions to be made by Terry Ryan and his staff, including Paul Molitor, but they are interesting to consider.
To Extend or not to Extend
Along with considering what Escobar's role may be for 2015, there are other discussions that need to be had in the front office (and frankly, may have already been had at the organizational meetings).
Should the Twins consider offering Eduardo Escobar a contract extension? Every offseason, a fun topic is whether or not there are players who should be signed to a long-term contract.
Escobar won’t hit arbitration for another season. He also won’t be a free agent until after the 2018 season. So, of course there is no rush to extend him. The difficulty in this decision is that his role over those years will greatly affect his ability to make money. If he is a utility player, the top guys will make between $3-4 million per year. However, if the Twins went year-to-year, he would likely make something like $3 million over the next three years, or $4.5 million over the next four years before becoming a free agent. What dollar value would the Twins need to offer for it to make it worth their while?
At the same time, if Escobar is a starter, he could make as much as $3 million in 2016 and up from there. So at this point, there is no reason for Escobar to accept an offer that would make any sense for the Twins.
Assuming the Twins will move him back to a utility role, it makes much more sense to go year-to-year.
To Trade or Not to Trade
As we’ve noted, Escobar had a very solid season as a 25-year-old shortstop. It may have been enough for some team or teams to view him as capable of being a regular MLB shortstop. And yet, it’s clear that the Twins brass (based on them pushing him back to a utility role in 2015) believe that he is a utility infielder. There’s no shame in that. His performance in 2014 tells me that he can be one of the better utility infielders in the game.
However, if the team truly believes that he may have peaked in 2014, would this not be an opportune time to reach out to teams about acquiring pitching, or another area of need, in exchange for him? What if a team offered a Double-A pitcher who is their fifth-ranked prospect and another piece?
I think it might be wise for the Twins to at least explore the market for Escobar, selling him as an everyday shortstop even if they seemingly don’t believe it themselves.
SUMMARY
So there you have it, over 1,250 words on Eduardo Escobar. He performed very well in 2014 when given an opportunity to be an everyday shortstop. However, the team is committing to Danny Santana at that position in 2015. The first question is whether or not Escobar should be given an opportunity to be the Twins shortstop in 2015. Beyond that, should the Twins consider signing him to an extension, or should they try to deal him for pitching?
Now it’s your turn. Let’s discuss Eduardo Escobar and what this offseason means for him.
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