Eduardo Escobar

[William Malone]

Eduardo José Escobar was born on January 5, 1989 in Venezuela. 

The Chicago White Sox signed him as an international free agent in 2006. He made his Major League debut for them as a September call-up in 2011. Escobar was traded to the Minnesota Twins in a deadline deal for veteran starting pitcher Francisco Liriano in 2012.

He played just 14 games for the Twins after the deadline in 2012, batting .227 with six RBI and no extra base hits. Escobar made the Opening Day roster in 2013, and had a strong opening month. This included a walk-off double against the Detroit Tigers on April 3rd, and his first career home run on April 9th. He finished April with a .935 OPS, but eventually cooled off. Escobar wound up splitting the year between Triple-A and the Majors, slashing .236/.282/.345 in 66 games at the big league level. He spent most of his time at either third base or shortstop, but also played some second base and left field.

Escobar won the Charles O. Johnson Award in 2014, which is given out annually to the most improved Twins player. He slashed .275/.315/.406 across 133 games, hitting six home runs and driving in 37. Escobar started 86 games at shortstop, but was worth -7 defensive runs saved. His defense was better during a stint at third base while Trevor Plouffe was on the disabled list, but the Twins moved him back to shortstop once Plouffe was healthy again.

Danny Santana beat out Escobar for the Opening Day shortstop job during spring training in 2015. He began the season platooning in left field with Oswaldo Arcia, making the occasional infield start when someone else had a day off. Santana began to struggle and eventually lost his regular starting job, but Eduardo Núñez was having a breakout season and wound up taking a lot of the extra shortstop starts. Escobar slashed .262/.309/.445 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI over 127 games. This included 114 starts and six different positions.

His offensive production declined in 2016, slashing .236/.280/.338 over 105 games. Escobar also missed time with a groin strain. He spent much of the first half as the Twins starting shortstop, but the emergence of Jorge Polanco moved him to a utility bench role in the second half.

Escobar spent most of 2017 as a utility bench player for Minnesota, but became a huge part of their push for a wild card spot late in the year after All-Star third baseman Miguel Sanó injured his shin. Filling in as the everyday third baseman, Escobar caught fire and drove in 25 runs during the month of September. This helped the Twins clinch their first playoff berth since 2010. He hit fifth in the 2017 AL Wild Card Game, going 2-for-4. Despite this, Minnesota lost 8-4 against the New York Yankees.

That strong finish in 2017 carried over to 2018. Escobar hit 37 doubles and 15 home runs in just 97 games with the Twins, getting traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the deadline. The 37 doubles is just ten off the Twins single season record, set by Justin Morneau in 2008. Including his time with the Diamondbacks, he finished 2018 with 48 doubles. This would've been a club record had he stayed in Minnesota and performed as he did in Arizona.

Escobar had a lot of personal success in Arizona, including a 118 RBI campaign in 2019 and his only career All-Star nod in 2021. Despite this, the Diamondbacks were never able to reach October with Escobar on the roster. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers at the 2021 deadline. Escobar was 3-for-10 for Milwaukee during the NLDS that fall, but the Brewers were upset by an underdog Atlanta Braves team. An 88 win Atlanta team who had fewer wins than two non-playoff teams was +350 just to win the NLDS, and they wound up winning the whole thing.

The New York Mets signed Esocbar to a two year, $20 million deal ahead of the 2022 season. He had a disappointing first year in Queens, hitting .240/295/.430 over 136 games. Escobar was even worse in 2023, eventually getting traded to the Los Angeles Angeles for essentially nothing in a salary dump deal that June. He slashed .219/.259/.303 during his 59 game stint with the Angels.

After not playing for anyone in 2024, Escobar signed to play professionally in his native Venezuela in 2025.

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