Brewers Trade For Eduardo Escobar From Arizona To Shore Up Infield

The Milwaukee Brewers have made a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks to send All-Star infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Milwaukee Brewers.

This was a trade that has made sense for quite some time. Escobar, a switch-hitting third baseman with experience all over the field, is in the final year of his contract with Arizona, and is earning just $7MM this year, and the Brewers will only be on the hook for just about $2MM of it.

With a weak spot at both corner infield positions in the lineup, making an addition was seen as probable and Escobar is a solid addition.

The Milwaukee Brewers traded prospects Cooper Hummel and Alberto Ciprian to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Eduardo Escobar.

Fansided’s Robert Murray was first to report that a trade had been completed. Shortly thereafter, the full trade was known.

The Brewers are getting an impact bat that can play all around the field. Escobar is hitting .246 with 22 homers and a 107 OPS+ on the season. He’ll add some much needed thump to the Brewers lineup and some versatility.

Escobar can play all over the infield and in the outfield if needed. He hasn’t played first base in the big leagues before, but reportedly the Brewers plan for him includes some time at first base against left-handed pitchers. Keston Hiura currently plays at first base against lefties. That says a lot about his status right now.

As for what the Brewers are giving up, Cooper Hummel was blocked at a lot of positions in the Brewers organization, but he’s performed well in the upper levels of the minors. In 2019, Hummel had an .834 OPS in Double-A and in Triple-A this year, Hummel has a .942 OPS. He wasn’t likely to earn an opportunity with Milwaukee soon but will get a chance with Arizona.

Alberto Ciprian is a high-upside youngster way down in the lower levels of the minors. The 18 year old infielder is playing down in the Dominican Summer League and has 12 games under his professional belt. Ciprian is hitting .378/.465/.514 in those 12 games in the DSL.

Neither of these prospects the Brewers gave up were high-profile prospects. Ciprian has the highest upside of the two but he’s several years away from the big leagues and there’s long odds that he’ll reach that upside.

This is a great trade for Milwaukee. They get the impact bat they need that can help out their infield and they don’t have to give up much from their farm system to get him.

There’s likely still more to come from Stearns and Milwaukee before the deadline passes.