MONDAY: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle also hears that a deal for Escobar is unlikely, in part due to the progress that Lowrie has made on his injured finger. Lowrie could begin throwing within the next couple of days, which could allow him to return by the end of August.
SUNDAY, 6:51pm: The Athletics and Rays don’t appear likely to reach agreement on a trade involving Escobar, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. If they can’t, Escobar would stay with the Rays.
1:48pm: The Athletics have claimed shortstop Yunel Escobar from the Rays on revocable waivers, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. That means the two teams will have until Tuesday afternoon to agree upon a trade, if they’re going to make one.
Escobar is making $5MM this season and is already signed to a two-year, $13MM deal for 2015 and 2016 that also includes a club option for 2017. He had been a solid, underappreciated player for several years before this one, but this season he’s struggled, hitting .250/.315/.316 while getting uncharacteristically bad marks for his defense — UZR had rated him as an above-average shortstop for seven straight seasons before this one, but this year he’s 14 runs below average. That figure might be somewhat fluky, but he’s nearly 32 and has also struggled offensively, suggesting he might be declining.
Given Escobar’s contract status, then, it’s a little surprising that the Athletics claimed him, but perhaps they feel he has rebound potential, and they do have a need at shortstop. Jed Lowrie is currently on the disabled list and will be a free agent after the season, and journeyman Andy Parrino has recently taken his place. The A’s also recently shipped top prospect Addison Russell to Chicago in the Jeff Samardzija deal.
Makes sense with Lowrie and Punto out (and Lowrie about to become a free agent). Maybe he could be a change of scenery guy.
He’s done that twice already. Maybe he’s just not that good?
So had Moss, and now look at him. Not saying Yunel is likely to improve that dramatically. But this is the only bad year he’s ever had. It’s quite possible that he’ll bounce back.
I wonder if they trade Russell if the Lester for Cespedes deal goes down first. I don’t see Smardzgia (spelling) as a huge upgrade over the Non Lester pieces. Addison Russell has never played above AA but is ready defensively and has pop in his bat.
We’ll never know for certain. But I think that trade, or a similar one, might have happened either way. They knew Chavez, Pomeranz and Milone weren’t likely to be as good in the second half as they were in the first. And even Gray and Kazmir were gonna be prone to fatigue down the stretch (as we saw tonight). So it was always important to try to bolster the rotation as much as possible, in case of fatigue, regression, and/or injuries.
His numbers are pretty bad all around. Can’t imagine the Rays would ask for much, though Lee has been terrible this year and Adames can’t be ready yet…
Tim Beckham, perhaps? Hak Ju Lee gets another year in AAA. Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez are still under contact for 2015.
Send them Chad Pinder or Renato Nunez. Come on A’s, get Yunel
His low defensive metrics ratings this year seem pretty flukey
If they do get him, I hope he’s not that “bad apple” that ruins the bunch. Seems like the type that could do it.
He’s not that bad, he just play like Cano but Cano is way better of course
I’d like to keep Renato, Thanks.
I don’t really think Renato’s a 3B going forward, his hands are as clunky as clunky can be, so I don’t mind sending them an above average offense 1B prospect for 2+ years of a SS
Would like to see a trade workout, Escobar is solid. Going to a contender would bump his numbers up
As a rays fan I would hate to see him go … Escobar is nastyyyyyy … people saying he’s the worst defense SS in the game are just wrong … 2013 Yunel Escobar was THE BEST DEFENSIVE SS in the game .989 feilding percentage led all of MLB … the guy has one “average” season and people think he not good?! True he’s not the best hitter in the world but the guy can straight up glove it … A’s fan worried bout Escobar shouldn’t be
Andrelton Simmons is a better defensive ss.
Yeah, 2013 stats are much better. You have to put more stock in the current year than previous years, but that makes me feel better 🙂
Best defensive SS in the game last year was Simmons, hands down.
I’ll agree Simmons is better … i was basing my comments on fielding percentage alone .. 1st – last year and 18th – this year is an alarming drop but a lot of the times these guys can get complacent … trust me a change of scenery is the best thing to happen for a great glove like Escobar
I hope you’re right! This isn’t the first time A’s have been linked to Escobar. Check out UZR for last year. Simmon was unbelievable.
Agree and this year the best defensive player has been so far Echeverria one of the most underrated player in the game right now
You mean Adeiny Hechavarria of MIA? He’s the third worst defensive SS this year. The best this year is Cozart of CIN.
Numbers are cold when we talk about defensive, Echeverria is naaaasty with the glove, Simmons this year hasn’t been the same, guess he’s not that good
They can have him.Zo can play short, and Forsythe has been great at 2nd. That, or we can bring up Franklin and give him a chance. Then again, this probably won’t happen lol. Might just be trying things out for the off season though.
his .250 batting average is still better than anyone else the A’s have had at SS this year. Parrino and Sogard are good defenders but barely hit over the mendoza line. If they get him, Parrino will get send down, Sogard back to 2nd where he will platoon with Callaspo and Yunel can start at SS till Lowrie comes back
So what does the A’s send over in a trade? Could be the A’s are hoping it as a dump in cost?
Jaso, maybe? Jaso was a Devil Ray. And the Athletics just acquire Soto — making four catchers on the roster. I’m not suggesting the Rays are interested in Jaso specifically but a cursory look at their two catchers on their 40-man roster does suggest that it is a weak spot for them.
Even with 4 catchers, Jaso is still part of a platoon with Norris and the A’s are using Vogt in the field. Soto was probably added in case of injuries (ex. Norris’ concussions and back). A’s won’t be moving Jaso for Escobar, I think.
Just in Jaso is hurt. Most likely going on the DL. Concussion.
Jaso is a terrible catcher and has primarily been DH. Rays let him go because of his bad work behind the plate. Although with Molina being pretty much an automatic out, I think I would take him though.
Jaso is a defensive terrible catcher, but he’s primarily been a catcher this year.
So why are we so sure the Rays will pull him back? Might be. happy with a straight salary dump. A’s are not going to given them any MLB position player who is contributing much offensively,
Maybe Parrino and some kind of cash consideration
Shoot, if there’s salary dumps, why not even try cash considerations for Ryan Howard? (Even though that’s not going to happen)
Escobar has been vastly underrated in his career but I question the wisdom of acquiring a shortstop who has made it clear, though his agent, he does not want to play for Oakland.
He doesn’t have a choice. Yea he can be mad and not play well but then he loses money because I am sure he will be shooting for another contract when this one expires. They play well to get paid well. Chances are he shuts up and plays hard.
If he doesn’t want to play for the A’s, why would you want him? Remember Matt Holliday? I’d rather wait for Lowrie to return. Meanwhile, Parrino’s very good defensively, and about like Sogard offensively, which admittedly isn’t saying much.
Why did the Mariners trade for Morales when he made it clear in the offseason he didn’t want to play for them? Just because a guy doesn’t necessarily want to play for your team doesn’t mean you just write off his skills if you think they are valuable to your team. Escobar is a good grab for the A’s if they had no intentions on locking up Lowrie since he is a FA after this season.
In all honesty he’s probably just being dangled to see what the Rays could get for him. They aren’t in a hurry to get rid of a defensive player like him.