Me to David Stearns when I saw this deal go through yesterday (:14 mark):
Did he do it again or did he do it again (he did it again)?!?
Look, the regular season isn’t over by any stretch of the imagination. The Brewers are 7 games clear of the Reds, but there is still a long way to go. Two months and 60 games remain on the schedule. BUT, the Brewers are most certainly ‘in the race’ at this point. And if you ask any Brewer fan what the biggest deficiency is on the team, offense, specifically offense at 1st base, is what 9 fans out of 10 will bring up. They’ve been swinging the bats better lately, but it was pretty clear that a bat was a HUGE need before the deadline.
Well yesterday Stearns got that bat. Escobar was the Diamondbacks All Star this year. He’s a switch hitter batting a shade under .250, but is 5th in the NL in home runs (22), and 6th in the NL in RBI (65). And not only does he bring good numbers at the plate, he is VERSATILE defensively. One hallmark of the Stearns Era has been versatility. He covets players that can play multiple positions. Escobar fits that bill. He’s primarily a 3rd and 2nd baseman, but he has played some shortstop and outfield in his career too. He hasn’t played a game in his MLB career at 1st base, but that’s where he’s likely to get a lot of time with the way things are currently lined up for the Brewers. The good news is he’s a veteran with a ton of experience, and if he’s able to play 3rd or 2nd reasonably well (he is), 1st base shouldn’t be that overwhelming for him. The point is, his flexibility defensively allows Counsell to get in him in the lineup in a variety of ways, while also continuing to get at bats for Tellez and Urias, as well as Vogelbach and Shaw when they get healthy.
Even with yesterday’s move, I don’t expect that Stearns is done swinging trades. Any contender ALWAYS needs another bullpen arm. Bullpen arms for contenders are like run-on sentences in blogs, you can never have enough. Stearns has been remarkable at getting scrap heap guys (Jake Cousins, Hunter Strickland, etc.) for the bullpen and getting the most out of them, but a bigger name with a defined role wouldn’t hurt. Like when he picked up Drew Pomeranz in 2019, or Joakim Soria in 2018. Escobar cost next to nothing, so they do have a lot of farm system collateral to play with. Let’s go!
PS: The more I think about it, the more this move for Escobar feels like the move to get Moose in 2018. Power bat that can play multiple positions on the infield. We can’t scream ‘MOOOOOOOOSSSSEEEEE’ at Escobar like a bunch of lunatics, but their style of play is similar.
Double PS: The Bucks won a title, the Brewers are contending, Rodgers is back and the Packers are Super Bowl favorites. I’m not saying it, I’m thinking it real hard, but I’m not saying it out loud.
