The White Sox and Diamondbacks discussed a possible deal with Eduardo Escobar last week, and it looks like talks could pick up speed. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who originally reported on the talks between the two parties, suggests in his final column of notes that the D-backs are “about” to start a sale that will start with an Escobar trade. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network tweets On Monday morning, the two sides made “progress” in an exchange that would send Escobar from D-backs to ChiSox – the organization that originally signed Escobar out of Venezuela in 2006.

Escobar is a reasonable target for a Sox club who have lost Nick Madrigal for the season and now face a noticeable hole on second base. Escobar, 32, has spent more time on third base in recent years but recorded 227 innings for second in 2021 and has 849 career innings in that position. He has also emerged as a reliable source of energy and, for the past six weeks, has been in tears.

The Escobar hitting the switches fell into a sizable meltdown in early May, with its OPS hitting a low of 0.655 on May 14. In 152 home plate appearances since then, he’s crushed to a clip of 0.306 / 0.342 / 0.563 with 10 home runs. , five doubles and one triple. That hot streak took his hitting line of the season to a respectable .253 / .298 / .481 and took his 2021 home run total to 17. Escobar’s walk rate is down to 6 , 1% – a drop of some note from its peak of 8.2%. in 2018 – and he hit a career high of 22%. However, it’s still below the league average in baseball’s batting-centric mark.

Escobar earns $ 7.5 million in 2021 – the final season of a three-year, $ 21 million contract extension he signed with Arizona in lieu of his first trip to the free agent market in 2018. There is still approximately $ 3.9 million to be paid. on that salary by the end of the season. While rental players aren’t always ideal for contending clubs, it’s a pretty reasonable path for the Sox to take when it comes to their needs on the pitch. Yoan Moncada is locked in as a long-term response to Chicago’s third base, and the White Sox expect Madrigal to return in 2022.

If a deal were to eventually cross the finish line, Escobar would be the first of several additions for a White Sox team that sits in first place despite multiple injuries to key contributors. Eloy Jimenez has not played in a game this season after suffering a ruptured pectoral tendon in a spring training match, and Luis Robert has been out since early May with level 3 hip flexor strain Other outfielder Adam Eaton and Adam Engel, meanwhile, are on the field with hamstring strain – the second of the season in Engel’s case.

When it comes to D-backs, Escobar is one of the many veteran coins that could change hands by the July 30 trade deadline. Another waiting free agent Asdrubal Cabrera looks almost guaranteed to move. Outfielder David Peralta and right-hander Merrill Kelly are both signed at an affordable price until the 2022 season. Backup wide receiver Stephen Vogt and reliever Joakim Soria are not having their best seasons, but they are both free agents. imminent with a solid track record and reasonable salaries of $ 3.5 million. Ketel Marte, of course, is the Diamondbacks’ first commercial chip, as he was controlled throughout the 2024 season. That said, he is also struggling with a hamstring issue and is undergo additional imaging Monday as the team continues to assess this injury.