Alcides Escobar Agrees to $1 Million Deal with Washington Nationals

Alcides Escobar has a million reasons to smile…

The 34-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop has agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract to stay with the Washington Nationals next season.

Alcides Escobar,

Escobar, who will turn 35 in December, batted .288 with 21 doubles, two triples, four homers and 28 RBIs in 75 games with the Nationals after signing with the club in July.

Escobar has a career average of .259 with 245 doubles and 470 RBIs over a total of 12 seasons in the majors with three clubs. He was an AL All-Star for the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

This is the first move of what figures to be a busy offseason for general manager Mike Rizzo after Washington finished last in the NL East with a 67-95 record. The regular season ended on Sunday.

Rizzo opted to tear down the roster at the trade deadline, parting with more than a half-dozen veterans, including shortstop Trea Turner — the eventual NL batting champion — and starting pitcher Max Scherzer

Alcides Escobar Agrees to One-Year Contract with the Kansas City Royals

Alcides Escobar is still Royal-ty.

The 31-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop has agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal to remain with the Kansas City Royals, according to ESPN.

Alcides Escobar

Escobar batted .250 in 162 games with 150 hits and a career-high 36 doubles with Kansas City last season. The solid defensive shortstop, one of a quartet of Royals who debuted with Kansas City in 2011 and keyed the team’s run to a Major League Baseball championship in 2015, ranked sixth in the American League with a .978 fielding percentage.

A career .260 hitter, Escobar won a Gold Glove and was an AL All-Star during that championship season, as the Royals won their first World Series title in 30 years. His best offensive season came in 2012, when he batted .293 with a career-high 177 hits, 30 doubles, 35 steals and 52 RBIs.

Escobar broke into the MLB with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.

His agreement with the Royals was first reported by FanRag Sports.

Escobar’s Historic World Series Homerun Baseball Sells for Nearly $20,000

A piece of Alcides Escobar’s World Series history has found a new home.

Alcides Escobar

The baseball that the 28-yar-old Venezuelan Kansas City Royals shortstop hit for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first inning in Game 1 sold on Wednesday night for $19,200.

The ball was retrieved and authenticated by Major League Baseball with a QR code and a hologram. The league then put it up on its website for eight days before the auction closed after 84 bids at 11:18 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Alcides Escobar's World Series Homerun Baseball

A Game 1-used third base, which was used for the first two innings only, was also sold Wednesday night for $6,260. Two game-used balls from the game sold for $900 and $1,220.

Other World Series game-used item auctions that will close in the next couple of days include Johnny Cueto‘s first-pitch ball in Game 2 and Noah Syndergaard‘s first-pitch ball for the New York Mets in Game 3, which buzzed Escobar’s head and sent him to the ground.

Syndergaard’s Game 3 jersey is also being auctioned off.

The highest price paid for a game-used ball purchased on Major League Baseball’s website was the ball used to throw the first pitch of Game 7 of last year’s World Series, which went for $28,890.

Last year, MLB.com also sold the ball used to make Derek Jeter‘s last out for more than $24,000.

Escobar’s inside-the-park home run was the first in a World Series game since Mule Haas of the Philadelphia A‘s did it in 1929.

Escobar Named a Starter for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game

Alcides Escobar is having a season to remember…

The 28-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop is one of four Kansas City Royals players named American League starters for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game being hosted by the Cincinnati Reds.

Alcides Escobar

Escobar, a first year pick, will be joined by his teammates Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain (outfielders) and Salvador Perez (catcher) as Royals reps for this year’s All-Star Game.

Much was said of the potential ballot-stuffing being done by Kansas City fans, but ultimately only four players from the AL Central leaders made it to the starting lineup. Long a doormat in the AL, the Royals have more starters this season than in the previous 25 years combined.

“It’s just been the support of our fans, really, over the last two years,” said Gordon, making his third straight All-Star appearance. “Winning brings attention and that’s what we’ve been doing. I think we play with a lot of energy, a lot of fun. People have noticed it.”

While the Royals may have led the way with the most players per team, the leading vote-getter came from north of the border.

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson set a new record for all-time single-season voting with over 14 million total votes cast. Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper led all National League selections by garnering 13.9 million votes.

Only two teams placed multiple players on the All-Star rosters, the Royals, who won the AL pennant last season, and the Miami Marlins, who entered Sunday eight games under .500 and 11 games back in the NL East.

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton were both voted to the NL squad, though Stanton won’t play in the Midsummer Classic.

Stanton, who signed a $325 million contract this offseason to stay in Miami, is on the disabled list with a broken bone in his hand. He’ll join Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (calf) and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday (quad) as All-Star starters who are on the DL.

The Reds will host the All-Star Game for the first time since 1988 and will be represented by Todd Frazier, who was voted the NL team’s starting third baseman.

“I was really nervous. I was excited. It was a huge comeback,” said Frazier, who went from trailing the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter by 2.5 million votes in June to winning the starting nod by 2.1 million. “I’m pretty much on Cloud Nine.”

All-Star pitchers, reserves and the finalists for the Final Vote will be announced Monday.

Royals manager Ned Yost and San Francisco Giants skipper Bruce Bochy will helm the AL and NL teams, respectively, when the 2015 All-Star Game is played Tuesday, July 14.

“We’re going to have a blast,” Yost said. “The All-Star Game is an experience you never forget, and to do it with so many of our teammates there is really special.”

In addition to Escobar, Perez and Cabrera, other Latino players selected as All-Star Game starters are Jose Altuve, Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta.

 

2015 MLB All-Star Game Starters
AL POS. NL
Miguel Cabrera, DET 1B Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
Jose Altuve, HOU 2B Dee Gordon, MIA
Alcides Escobar, KC SS Jhonny Peralta, STL
Josh Donaldson, TOR 3B Todd Frazier, CIN
Salvador Perez, KC C Buster Posey, SF
Mike Trout, LAA OF Bryce Harper, WAS
Lorenzo Cain, KC OF Giancarlo Stanton, MIA
Alex Gordon, KC OF Matt Holliday, STL
Nelson Cruz, SEA DH N/A