Atlanta trades Yunel Escobar to Toronto for Alex Gonzalez

[wibadgers23]

From mlbtr:

The Blue Jays acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes from the Braves for shortstop Alex Gonzalez and minor leaguers Tim Collins and Tyler Pastronicky, according to a team press release.

[pogokat]

Absolutely no clue what the braves are doing here....

[monty57]

I don't know anything about the minor leaguers, but unless someone's injured, this trade makes little sense. Both SS are probably equally likely to perform well for the remainder of the season. Gonzalez is just older and more expensive than Escobar. Reyes certainly hasn't been anything special in his 3+ years with Atlanta.

 

Looks like Atlanta is in "win now" mode and is giving up on Escobar due to a poor first half. They're trading for someone who's career numbers (.696 career OPS) look something like Escobar's poor first half numbers, but who happens to be having his career best (.793) OPS this season.

 

I'd say the Jays got the better MLB SS, Reyes is a project and it all depends on the prospects. Tim Collins looks like a decent minor league reliever, and I couldn't find Pastronicky on milb.com. I don't know if the Braves will put a 20-year-old out of AA onto their MLB roster in a playoff hunt, so it doesn't look to me like they really did much to improve their playoff chances this season. Assuming Gonzalez and Escobar "revert to norm" in the second half, I'd guess Escobar would be better for the rest of the season.

 

I'm no expert, but on initial viewing, I'd say the Jays win this one.

[Diskono]

Wow, Tim Collins is smaller than me. His numbers are ridiculous, though. 15.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9!

[joepepsi]

Since May 1st when Gonzalez had a .946 OPS, he has hit .247/.287/.442. Once again a Hot April fools the fools.

 

Escobar missed the first 2 weeks of May. Since then he's hitting .286/.379/.331. He's making a little over $400K and coming up on his first arby year. Gonzalez is making $2.75 million with a one year deal plus a club option for 2011.

 

Looks to me like a solid trade for the Blue Jays and a pointless trade for the Braves.

[Baldkin]

By all accounts I've read, the Braves (and specifically, Bobby Cox) got sick of Escobar's lollygaggyness (yes, I'm making up the word) and lack of effort both on and with off the field workouts.

[crewcrazy]

I don't even know if you could say the Braves are selling low on Escobar. It's a lot worse than that. Before this year, he hit a combined .301/.375/.426 in three seasons, and they traded him for a guy having a fluke season. The crazy things clubs will do to get rid of players they think are problems.

 

It'll be interesting to see if the Braves are willing to make more moves (specifically, still engage in talks about Corey Hart), or if they think their offensive WOAHs are magically solved by trading for a guy with 18 HR at the break.

[pingman]

By all accounts I've read, the Braves (and specifically, Bobby Cox) got sick of Escobar's lollygaggyness (yes, I'm making up the word) and lack of effort both on and with off the field workouts.

BINGO!

 

As long as Schuerholtz & Cox are around the Braves are all about (1) playing hard, and (2) playing smart ....Escobar has failed on these requirements....he certainly has the talent but what's disappointing to us Braves fans is that he's failed to respond to benchings & other disciplinary attempts by Cox ....

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, this trade is... wow. Excellent move by Toronto, unless Collins & Pastronicky are really, really good.

[Patrick425]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I understand the whole "reverting to the norm" theory. However, Escobar's numbers this year are really, really off. 0 HR's?! .283 SLG? That's like Andrew Jones type drop off numbers. I'm not convinced he will bounce back during the 2nd half.

[joepepsi]

Does anyone remember why he was on DL in May? That may have a lot to do with the lack of power. His .286 avg/.379oba since coming off the DL adds evidence to an injury sapping his power. Maybe the same thing is going on with Gamel?

[trwi7]

Does anyone remember why he was on DL in May?

Strained thigh.

[monty57]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I understand the whole "reverting to the norm" theory. However, Escobar's numbers this year are really, really off. 0 HR's?! .283 SLG? That's like Andrew Jones type drop off numbers. I'm not convinced he will bounce back during the 2nd half.

Yeah, his numbers are this year are terrible, but they're still only .078 OPS less than Gonzalez's career numbers. He's a career .696 OPS hitter, which is pretty terrible, even for a SS. He's now 33 and having the best year of his life, and the Braves are buying into it. The funny thing is, in Escobar's three year career, two of his full seasons have been better (higher OPS) than Gonzalez's 2010 first half.

 

If Escobar is truly a team cancer, then the Braves may be trying to rid themselves of this cancer. Or, if they know of some injury which is causing the poor production, they may be getting rid of him (but I think that goes against league rules). Otherwise, it seems they're trading away the better player, who is also younger, much less expensive and under team control for three more seasons.

 

Maybe they will be willing to trade Minor for Hart's hot first half :-)

[Diskono]

The Braves are definitely selling low and buying high, but from what I've been reading today, most Braves fans seem to be fine with it. I guess they're pretty tired of Escobar's streakiness at the plate, and they think his defense is been pretty awful.

[thablingster]

When I first saw this trade I was confused, but the more I read it seems as though the Braves' brass was fed up with Escobar. This article pretty much sums up why the move was made. In addition to Escobar's lackadaisical play and streakiness, he may actually cost more than Gonzalez next year. As well, the Braves have a SS prospect they are high on who may be ready to contribute in 2012, so they see Gonzalez as a stopgap. My friends who are Braves fans seemed more content to rid themselves of Escobar than anything.

[pingman]

found this tidbit:

Buster Olney wrote:

Tremendous trade for the

Braves. Gonzalez has very affordable $2.5m option for 2011. Said Frank

Wren on phone: "Without that, we would not have made the deal." Also,

the smallish lefty the Braves got in the deal is "filthy ... like a

little Billy Wagner," says the person who signed him -- former Jays GM

J.P. Ricciardi. This is an absolutely great trade for Atlanta. The

Braves have one of the best clubhouses in baseball, and that Escobar

was having problems says a whole lot about him; not many have problems

with ATL.

Also the Braves have 18 year old Dominican SS Edward Salcedo (signed to a $1,600,000 bonus over the winter) advancing quickly ....he might be ready by 2012

 

more....

The New York Daily News has some interesting insider info:

This is

Bobby Cox’s last year, the Braves are serious contenders, and Escobar is

not well-liked on the team because of a persistent lack of hustle.

"Bobby hates Escobar," a Brave told me earlier this season. "Escobar

doesn’t have a lot of friends in the clubhouse."

and even more....from the Braves Scout.com page:

Buster (Olney) just said a Brave player asked Esco to "play hard" today as his

gift for his birthday. Jesus Christ.

[TooLiveBrew]

... from what I've been reading today, most Braves fans seem to be fine with it. I guess they're pretty tired of Escobar's streakiness at the plate, and they think his defense is been pretty awful.

I can understand being fed up with lack of hustle (Escobar has always struck me as being a complete tool), but the last thing to criticize about him is his defense. UZR/150 has him at +4 over his career, and '10 has actually been his best season so far by that metric (+9.5).

"Bobby hates Escobar," a Brave told me earlier this season. "Escobar doesn’t have a lot of friends in the clubhouse."

Fine, no problem by me if you feel you need to move a guy for chemistry reasons, but the Braves really seem to have done a poor job in the return. A career backup-caliber, aging IF, a MIF prospect that profiles as a utility player, and a bullpen arm. Not to mention the fact they had to include a decent flier in Jo-Jo Reyes.

FanGraphs' R.J. Anderson sums this up neatly imo in one sentence: "In some ways, this is similar to the Edwin Encarnacion deal, only Escobar’s track record is about a million times better than Encarnacion’s ever was."

[Thundercat32]

The beat writer for the Atlanta Constitution Journal was on the On Deck show yesterday on 1250, he said earlier this year there was a team party and 24 of the 25 players all showed up. Everybody but Escobar. Someone in the room noticed this and asked a team official, "looks like you're missing one." And their response was "no, everyone is here. Yunel wasn't invited." When it gets to that point its just addition by subtraction.