ESPN Tidbit on Escobar

wibadgers23 · May 20, 2009

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick just did an article speculating on who will be the next wave of minor league players to be called up this year. Escobar was listed as one:

The Brewers dipped into their farm system last week and called up third baseman Mat Gamel, who hit a home run against St. Louis in his first start. Then they summoned Hernan Iribarren to back up Craig Counsell, the designated replacement for the injured Rickie Weeks.

Could Escobar, 22, be next in line? The Brewers just decreed that he'll begin playing second base as well as short for Triple-A Nashville. Judging from Escobar's skill set, the transition shouldn't be much of a problem.

"He's acrobatic," said a scout who watched Escobar in the Cactus League. "He's got range, lateral quickness and arm strength. I'm not sure he's ready to hit right now, but he's a plus runner, and he's going to steal some bases. I think he's going to be a heck of a player."

Next batch of top prospects to be called up

RyDogg66 · May 22, 2009

Scouts seem to love this guy, but his bat and lack of power are so worrisome to me that I am skeptical of this value. If he can hit .290 at the major league level, even without power, and play the defense he is praised for, then I would be thrilled, but we shall see.

Invader3K · May 22, 2009

Scouts seem to love this guy, but his bat and lack of power are so worrisome to me that I am skeptical of this value.

I feel the same. If Melvin could trade him right now for something valuable, I'd be all for it.

monkeyman343434 · May 22, 2009

I'm not saying he's going to turn into Hanley Ramirez, I think his ceiling for power is probably about 15 hr/season in his prime, but Hanley really didn't put up eye-popping numbers in the minors either, the kid is still so young and maturing/filling out and creating more power while being one of the youngest in every stop he's been at. In the off-season, someone on this board (sorry, I can't remember who) pulled out an article from when Jose Reyes was at about the same point in his career as Escobar is now, and the current articles about Escobar are eeirly similar. Now I'm not saying he'll turn into Reyes either, but the potential is sure there. Instead of all of these "all hit - no glove" prospects coming up through our system over the last five years, it's nice to finally have a gold glove caliber guy coming up at a premium defensive position. I sure hope he gets a shot to be the starting SS in Milwaukee at some point in the near future, be it 2010 or 2011. Especially if he gets a full season of seasoning in AAA this year, I think he can improve his hitting and hit about .290/.340/.400 in the majors, and would be real nice if he could steal at a 80% clip and swipe 30 bags a year as well

TooLiveBrew · May 22, 2009

Especially if he gets a full season of seasoning in AAA this year, I think he can improve his hitting and hit about .290/.340/.400 in the majors, and would be real nice if he could steal at a 80% clip and swipe 30 bags a year as well

To me, this is the dream scenario unless Escobar actually turns into at least a gap power hitter like Reyes. Then I'd just expect the SLG to be higher. I'm not sure if Alcides's numbers in the minors so far really display what scouts seem to expect from him, and there's no reason to rush him up. Let him get comfortable in AAA & show what he can do; Hardy is still arbitration-controlled through 2010.

TheCrew07 · May 22, 2009

What constitutes gap power? 24 2B, 5 3B, 8HR, in 131 games?

nate82 · May 22, 2009

If Escobar could do this in the majors I would love it. This is Jose Reyes numbers for 2005 which was his first full year in the majors. I think this is the the most that you could expect from Escobar. It would spell Weeks from the leadoff spot also. What Escobar really needs to work on is not really his power but his walks and strike outs. Escobar will develop some power that is the easy part so to say the plate discipline is going to be the hardest for him to work on.

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