Royals reportedly re-sign Alcides Escobar and here's why that's hard to believe
The Royals apparently can't quit Escobar, who had a 0.0 WAR in 2017
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
The Kansas City Royals have agreed to bring back one of the free agents from their 2015 championship core and it's shortstop Alcides Escobar, according to Robert Murray of FanRag Sports. The terms of the deal are not yet known and it is pending a physical.
Escobar, 31, is coming off a rather dreadful season. He played in all 162 games (the third time in the last four seasons he did so), but he hit .250/.272/.357 (65 OPS+). He was caught stealing seven times while being successful just four times. He struck out 102 times compared to just 15 walks. In all, he was worth 0.0 WAR.
How Escobar fits here remains to be seen. It looked like Raul Mondesi might get the chance to see what he can do in everyday action prior to this signing and that might still be the case. Mondesi is a career .181 hitter with a .497 OPS, but that's in just 209 career plate appearances and he's only 22 years old. He hit .305/.340/.539 in Triple-A last season.
Whit Merrifield has the second base job, but third base right now could be open. Cheslor Cuthbert figures to get the job unless someone else is signed (Mike Moustakas coming back?), but maybe Mondesi or Escobar shift there. Infielder Ryan Goins was signed to a minor-league deal earlier this week, too.
Perhaps the Royals play matchups, using Escobar as a utility backup/fallback option to Mondesi, should the youngster struggle again.
Regardless, Escobar just doesn't seem to have much value left. If he takes playing time from Mondesi early in the season, this is a mistake.
