4:46pm: Escobar made a doozy of a statement on the matter on Twitter, writing: “I asked for my freedom they did not let me free and I did it because they lied to me they are not honest.”
2:42pm: The White Sox have released infielder Alcides Escobar, per James Fegan of The Athletic (via Twitter). Escobar had been with the org on a minors deal that he signed late in camp.
Escobar was a workhorse for the Royals during his many years with the organization, but rarely hit much at all. He finished his tenure in Kansas City with four-consecutive sub-70 wRC+ campaigns.
There has been a bit of a spark in Escobar’s bat this year at Triple-A, where he’s slashing .286/.343/.444 with ten home runs and a 7.9% walk rate. That’s about the league-average rate of production for the offensively inclined international league.
Clearly, it’s not as if Escobar appears slated for a late-career breakout. But it seems he’s in good enough form to end up with a contending team on a minors deal. With limited avenues to adding to a roster in August, an experienced and versatile infielder of Escobar’s ilk can make for important roster insurance.
Bring him home
Wherever home is, the Sox will surely regret it once he gets there.
Maybe he can play 2b for the Chubbies. Should be able to field the position better then anybody on the roster.
These new revelations about the front office should not surprise a single person, first and foremost, Escobar.
@chicub_city
Initially I was going to guess you are Dogbone’s rec account, but I haven’t seen Bocephus trolling on here in a while, so now I’m thinking you are his new account. That, or you are one of their high school classmates.
So, which one are you?
Royals are 100% signing him and letting him play SS everyday until Mondesi comes back this year. (If Mondesi comes back this year that is).
No, we have Nicky Lopez & Humberto Arteaga
Nicky Lopez plays 2B and Arteaga can platoon with Escobar.
Brewers bring him back.
Bring him here.
I really don’t think this is a good move. He is one of the more valuable veterans in the organization. It’s just another example that Hahn has no idea what he’s doing.
No question. It’s so egregious the Cubs should snap him up for 2B to pair with Baez as a lethal defensive combo.
Your brain is tiny.
I know that comment wasn’t for me and for the guy above me
He kinda has an idea of what he is doing that farm system looks really good and he got hauls in the Chris sale Adam Eaton and Quintana trades. I don’t think any GM or pres of baseball ops has done near as well as he has when it comes to trading his stars away to start a massive rebuild. Coppy did ok with the braves and got some decent guys and Preller did well after he really screwed up the first year
Please explain to me why you think the Sox releasing Escobar justifies that Hahn does not know what he is doing? I know you are a Cubs’ fan so I will wait for your response and won’t hold my breath!
I saw him play recently in a AAA game. The defense is still there.
It certainly is. Saw him earlier this year.
Him starting an All-Star game has to be one of the biggest jokes in MLB history
all all star games are farces when only devided by fans.
Eh, he was hitting .290 with a .700 OPS when the ASG hit that year. Plus he won a Gold Glove and was the MVP of the ALCS that season.
There have been MUCH worse All Star game starters. He probably shouldn’t have started the game that year, but that needs to be put on the plate of fans who couldn’t out-vote one of the smallest markets in baseball.
The all-star game, period, is the biggest joke in MLB history.
With his good postseason play there should be contenders willing to give him a spot on a roster.
I think the cardinals should sign him. Good lead off. Hitter
if you like an OBA of .290
Royals won the WS with him as a leadoff guy.
7 game samples equate to hall of fame.
And he had an OBP of .293 that year. I’d be willing to bet that’s one of the lowest, if not the lowest, OBPs of the everyday lead off hitter on a World Series winning team in history. Yeah it worked in 2015 but I don’t think the Royals or any other team would take that chance again.
Trolls gonna troll
What a bad move. What the hell is Hahn doing?
Do you care how many useless veterans are in AAA? He’s not part of the rebuild and it’s not like there’s going to be a sudden vacancy at SS in the majors.
@Steven Juris
I think Paulie0514’s comment was meant as sarcasm.
At least I hope it was.
“ But rarely hit much at all”. Career 250 hitter. Was a catalyst in the Royals World Series runs. Not Rod Carew but a decent hitter. Had he played for an East Coast team this statement would of never been written. God forbid he played for the Yankees they would be making a HOF claim for him now.
Yea no one would be saying that, He was a nice little player who had some big moments, he deserves credit. But there is no Big market bias here, he never hit much pure and simple.
He never once finished a season with a league-average batting line.
Since he became a full-time player in 2010, he has the second-worst wRC+ of all hitters to have received regular playing time (3k+ plate appearances): https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=3000&type=8&season=2019&month=0&season1=2010&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2010-01-01&enddate=2019-12-31&sort=17,a
I didn’t say he’s never been a useful player, never had his moments, etc.
Without Belliard Braves would have won many fewer games in 91 and forward.
Decent hitter? His OPS+ with the Royals was 73.
He was a trash hitter man. And this is coming from a Royals fan. The only reason he hit .250 was because he’d go on insane hot streaks for 2 weeks at a time.
He’s essentially Martin Maldonado as a SS.
Good analysis-Great defensive player who swung at nearly anything. Occasionally would run into a few hits. Would always answer the call to play (like Maldy). Extremely durable. Yost loved to pencil Esky into the lineup, even when he was not hitting at all.
it is really weird that he was not called up when Anderson went down. I mean his AAA stats are better than any of his MLB stats the last few years.
“Offensive incline” for the AAA
Duesenberg FTW.
I have no doubt Hahn lied to him, and don’t think he knows what he’s doing, but this is not a bad move.
There is no use of having him in the system at this point, if they have no intention of adding him to the roster. In fact, the team needs to do the same with certain vets in ML, like Castillo, who are basically taking up a spot for a younger player.
Bring Alcides back to KC!
It’s mind boggling to come on here to see these posts with people writing “Hahn doesn’t know what he is doing”. Hahn has been sticking to the plan with rebuilding the farm system through trades, international signings and draft picks. Come on, the White Sox use to be one of the worse farm systems in the MLB and has been the top five in the last two years.
In the mean time, I just laugh when Cubs’ fan come on here running their mouths when from 2011 to 2013 the Cubs were in the same position as the White Sox. Rebuilds take three to four years so expect the White Sox to be players in the offseason either via trades or signings. The money is there and please stop saying Reinsdorf is cheap. The Sox’s payroll was high prior to the rebuild.
I don’t understand why no team has ever tried to turn this guy into a pitcher. He has a fantastic arm and he already hits like one.
5 days later and hes not signed by anyone. No rumors either. HAD HE BEEN CALLED UP, y’all would be complaining it wasn’t LuBob or Maddy. This is a nothing team with a few key pieces playing nothing games. The last thing it needed was a 30 year old, below average infielder taking at bats away from young up and comers. Goins is essentially the same guy but he got the “minor league veteran lottery ticket” chance to play in the majors. The Sox didn’t need another.
I’m just as frustrated with the years of losing as any other Sox fan but its kind of stupid for anyone to be up in arms over this