Eduardo Escobar had a great night this past Saturday. With Arizona desperately trying to end the longest consecutive losing streak in road games, Escobar went 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBI. The Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 10-1, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale sent out a tweet that caused a stir in Chicago.
On the latest Sox Machine Podcast, I spoke about what I learned from sources within the Diamondbacks about an imminent trade of Escobar to the White Sox. Yes, the expectation is Escobar will be dealt before the trade deadline, but it’s news to those in Arizona that a deal is close to happening with the White Sox.
As Jim wrote last week, when the Escobar trade rumor first surfaced, the White Sox old friend would help in a couple of ways. If a deal is struck, the White Sox could take on the remaining $3,750,000 owed to Escobar. This is the final season of a three-year, $21 million deal Escobar signed before the 2019 season. Entering his age 33 season in 2022, maybe Rick Hahn entertains the thought of bringing Escobar back on a deal similar to the one they signed Adam Eaton. More than likely such an acquisition would be just a half-season rental.
Speaking of Eaton, it’s still unknown what his timetable is to return. Even if he does, Eaton has not helped the White Sox in the ways Hahn envisioned when beating the market to sign the veteran right fielder. Eaton was just hitting .205/.314/.377 with a 97 wRC+ against right-handed pitching before visiting the IL. Hahn brought Eaton in to help solidify the right field position and be effective against right-handed pitching. He’s done neither.
Which is why even if Hahn gets a deal done for Escobar, the White Sox need another bat. One that can do the job Eaton was supposed to do. Say, maybe Miami Marlins outfielder Starling Marte? Also a free agent after 2021, Marte is hitting well against right-handers at a .299/.425/.474 clip and a wRC+ 155 before June 27.
Marte would give the White Sox a credible outfielder. I’m not sure how much longer the plan of Brian Goodwin and Leury Garcia partnered with a corner infielder still learning the position (Andrew Vaughn and Jake Lamb) will continue to work. One could make the argument this outfield configuration is not working.
Being optimistic for a moment, can you imagine If Robert returned and was paired with Marte? That would be fun for a couple of months.
While climbing down from this dream, the reality is someone within the White Sox ownership structure may object to adding Escobar and Marte’s salaries (Looking at $10+ million) to the existing payroll. Even after telling fans the money will be spent.
However, capacity limits have been lifted, and 90,000+ White Sox fans returned to the stadium this past weekend. Making a midseason splash adding Escobar and Marte while staying ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central race will only bring more fans to the ballpark. Jerry Reinsdorf may not be a fan of spending money to make money, but additional revenue coming from expanded capacity could pay for both Escobar and Marte. There’s also the uncertainty about the expiring CBA and the 2022 season to consider. There shouldn't be much of an objection to such moves. The time is now to take advantage of the starting rotation's success.
Let’s see if Bob Nightengale is right about Escobar joining the White Sox. If Nightengale is right, hopefully, that addition comes sooner than later. There's a lot of "If's" surrounding this rumor. What's known is that the White Sox need help now, and the internal options are spent or injured. Hahn has to make multiple moves before the deadline. Adding Escobar would be a good start.
Update - 10:40 am CT
Jon Heyman joined 670 the Score to report what he's heard about the possible Eduardo Escobar trade to the White Sox.
“They obviously have been talking,” Heyman said. “They are asking for a lot. My understanding is the names (Jake) Burger and (Zack) Collins have come up. I think they’re probably off the table. They’ve probably moved on to others. But I think they sense that the White Sox are a little bit desperate. In the last nine games, they’ve scored 27 runs. That’s not great. Obviously, their (division) lead has slipped a bit. They’ve been decimated by injuries, particularly in the outfield but certainly with Madrigal out for the year, they could use an infielder. I think Arizona probably smells blood in the water."
