The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran infielder Eduardo Escobar and cash considerations from the New York Mets in exchange for a pair of Minor League pitchers, the club announced.
The Angels dealt Coleman Crow (Angels’ No. 19 prospect) and Landon Marceaux (No. 20) in the deal after a growing need for infield help arose in recent weeks. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, the Angels transferred Gio Urshela to the 60-day injured list.
Urshela suffered a fractured pelvis, and is scheduled to undergo surgery, which will force him to miss the rest of the season.
The Angels hope the 34-year-old can continue his recent stretch of play, 144 wRC+ since the beginning of May. On the season, the switch-hitter has four home runs, with 16 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Now in his 13th big league season, he most recently made the 2021 All-Star Game as a National League representative. He’ll figure to play a few different spots around the infield, as the Angels try to find a solution to the injury bug.
Escobar has played 29 games at third base, with nine games at second. When slotted at third, he’s amassed an 11.9 UZR/150, which currently grades out as his best numbers since the 2016 season.
Angels manager Phil Nevin discussed the move postgame on Friday, and said the club will formulate a plan for how they’ll figure to work Escobar into the plan moving forward.
The Mets are eating all of Escobar’s salary, so the move does not affect the Angels’ payroll moving forward, which allows them to continue adding at the trade deadline.
Angels call up Kevin Paldo to add power to bench
After placing Anthony Rendon on the 10-day injured list this week, and in turn, they selected the contract of Kevin Padlo from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Rendon suffered a bruised wrist after being hit by a pitch on June 15, prompting the move. Without the veteran third baseman’s bat in the lineup, the Angels lacked a serious punch in a run-producing slot in their lineup.
While in Triple-A this season, Padlo had posted a .532 slugging percentage. Of his 33 hits on the year, 19 of them had gone for extra bases, seven of them via the home run.
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