The Red Sox have designated lefty Edwin Escobar for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man spot was needed for the club to add righty William Cuevas to the active roster.
Boston will be forced to expose Escobar to waivers, if it can’t first work out a trade, because of a need for fresh arms at the major league level. In addition to Cuevas, Noe Ramirez will be coming back up as Joe Kelly hits the DL. Infielder Marco Hernandez is heading down to Pawtucket on optional assignment to clear room for Ramirez.
Escobar, who’ll soon turn 24, came to the Sox along with Heath Hembree from the Giants in the 2014 Jake Peavy trade. Though he was added to San Francisco’s major league roster before the 2013 season, he has only made two major league appearances; this is his final optionable year.
Though he has previously received some top-100 prospect consideration, Escobar hasn’t been terribly impressive since coming to Boston. Last year, he worked to a 5.07 ERA in 49 2/3 Triple-A innings while seeing time as both a reliever and a starter. He issued 25 walks against just 24 strikeouts in that span — a far cry from the impressive K:BB ratios he sported at times earlier in his minor league career.
Might try a trade with the Braves for a AAA non-40-man pitcher like Kanekoa Texeira or Madison Younginer. Braves would probably deal Ian Krol, but he is on the 40 man roster. If he is waived there is a good chance a 23 year old lefty with a cuo of coffee will be claimed.
When you designate a guy for assignment, the chances of you getting a legitimate minor league prospect type is very slim. You’re more likely to snag a class A lotto ticket.
Older AAA guys get cut loose all the time. A roster slot is valuable. Kanekoa is 30 year old righty.
Texeira is old and Younginer was already in the system and they let him walk. They’ll try and keep him, but they don’t need another lefty reliever.