Former Brewers Infielder Eduardo Escobar Signs Deal With New York Mets

The Milwaukee Brewers have lost yet another key member of their 2021 roster in free agency.

First baseman/third baseman Eduardo Escobar was David Stearns’ primary acquisition at the Trade Deadline in 2021. The team needed a boost in the middle of the lineup and Escobar provided just that.

The Brewers knew that Escobar was a “rental” and that he would be a free agent at the end of the season. Stearns told us at his end of season press conference to not rule out a return for Escobar to Milwaukee.

Well, now, we can rule that out. He has signed a multi-year deal with the New York Mets.

After a brief Brewers tenure, Eduardo Escobar is on the move, having signed a free agent contract with the New York Mets.

It seems the Mets are always trying to raid from the Milwaukee Brewers organization. With the front office executives clearly off limits, they’ve now turned to former players and Eduardo Escobar will help fill some holes in that Mets roster.

With Milwaukee, the 32 year old Escobar hit .268/.342/.458 with 12 doubles, six homers, an .800 OPS, and a 113 OPS+ in 48 games. He missed some time with an injury during the final stretch, and fell into a slump heading into October and didn’t make the lineup the final few games of the NLDS.

As interested as the Brewers could have possibly been in a reunion with Escobar, it’s unlikely they would’ve gone past $10MM per season like the Mets just did. With a strong market for Escobar’s services, the Brewers were simply not going to make the top offer.

Overall, the Brewers should still be fine at both corner infield spots. This isn’t a massive blow to the roster, although a switch-hitter with power and versatility like Escobar is always nice to have.

At third base, Luis Urias really started to come into his own and is currently slated to be the starting third baseman next season, and that’s a pretty solid situation for Milwaukee. At first base, the Brewers have Keston Hiura, Rowdy Tellez, and Daniel Vogelbach to choose from, and should come up with a decent situation at first base between them.

Bringing Escobar back was always going to be a longshot. Now he’s officially off the board for Milwaukee.

Escobar is the second Brewers free agent to sign elsewhere this offseason. Longtime catcher Manny Pina signed a multi-year contract in November with the Atlanta Braves.