Orioles sign infielder Alcides Escobar
Bringing the total to 62 players in camp, the Orioles have agreed to terms with infielder Alcides Escobar on a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp. Per Jon Heyman, he’ll receive $700,000 if he makes the 25-man roster. With Escobar’s addition, the Orioles now have 13 infielders in camp.
By my count, the only infielders that have not reported to Sarasota yet are Hanser Alberto and Steve Wilkerson. Position players are required to be in camp tomorrow and per reports, manager Brandon Hyde expects everyone to be present tomorrow, with the exception of catcher Jesus Sucre and pitcher Gregory Infante. They remain in their native home of Venezuela. Sucre is working on his Visa issues and Infante is sick.
Escobar, 32, has spent the last eight seasons with the Kansas City Royals batting .259 with 36 home runs and 390 RBI. He was an All-Star in 2015, hitting .290 with 16 doubles before the break that season. He’s also a former Golden Glove winner, in 2015, for his 13 errors in 647 chances at shortstop.
Signed in 2003 by the Milwaukee Brewers as an amateur free agent, Escobar was a career .293 minor league hitter. With the Brewers, he slashed .250/.298/.335 in 192 games. He was traded from the Brewers in 2010, packaged in a deal with Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi for Kansas City’s Yuniesky Betancourt and Zach Greinke.
MASN’s Roch Kubatko is reporting that the move today almost certainly secures Jonathan Villar’s position at second base, with Escobar – if he makes the team – taking over at shortstop. Rule-5 picks Richie Martin and Drew Jackson could now be competing for a utility infield role as the rest of the competition could now be organizational depth.
