Addition by subtraction: The Braves trade Yunel Escobar
It wasn’t just that Yunel Escobar was slow to learn a second language. He was slow to learn to be a professional. How many times do you have to be told to hustle — a concept that should be universal — before it’s clear you just don’t care to do it?
No one can suggest the Braves didn’t give him a fair chance. He played 446 big-league games for this club, and his excesses worsened over time. And it’s one thing to hang on to a problem if the problem is hitting and driving in runs, but at age 27 Escobar had ceased doing that. He has no home runs, 19 RBIs.
Even with the Braves in first place, this was the right move at the right time. We shouldn’t worry about the absence of Escobar roiling the waters. He was always the guy most apt to upset the others with his disregard for the game and its conventions. He was always the Brave the others could count on to carry himself least like a Brave.
Escobar’s defenders believed the language barrier — he defected from Cuba — led him to misunderstand and be misunderstood. Coaches Chino Cadahia and Eddie Perez, each of whom acted as interpreters, told me as much last season. But should a big-league player fail so repeatedly to perform the basic task of playing hard? The message seems to get through to Omar Infante, a Venezuelan who also uses translators.
A tiny example: On a Sunday afternoon earlier this season, Escobar drove a ball in the gap in left-center. His hit brought home the go-ahead run, but somehow he managed to get thrown out at second base on a ball so perfectly placed that it would have been a double for anybody else in the big leagues. (Put it this way: Sid Bream would have made it.)
Escobar got thrown out because he watched the flight of the ball and admired his work, as opposed to running hard. The Braves noticed. The Braves always noticed. As one man in the clubhouse said afterward, exasperation in his voice: “He has been told time and time again.”
About the trade: This isn’t an exchange of equal talent. Alex Gonzalez is a serviceable big-league shortstop who played on a World Series winner with Florida in 2003 and delivered the biggest hit — a walk-off homer in Game 4 — of the Series. He’s 33, which means he’s not a long-term answer. (Inside baseball: As a Marlin, Gonzalez was known as “Sea Bass.”)
Loading ...Perhaps Tyler Pastornicky, the minor-league shortstop also acquired in this deal, will develop. But what Frank Wren suggested Wednesday was that the Braves aren’t much worried about tomorrow. “We’re two years away from having to worry about that,” the general manager said. “After the 2011 season … we’ll cross that bridge at that time.”
This trade tells us the Braves no longer saw Escobar as a long-term answer, either, and they were justified in that conclusion. “He’s a talented guy,” Wren said of Escobar, “but we needed to make some adjustments on our ballclub. It just wasn’t happening here.”
This is a happier clubhouse than it has been in years, and not just because the team is in first place. Because these guys like and respect one another. The one guy who didn’t fit — and who was never going to fit, no matter how many chances the Braves offered — just got traded. “In the short term, this really improves our ballclub,” Wren said, and it improves it not because Gonzalez is a greater talent but because he’s a real pro.
Addition by subtraction, I believe it’s called.
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438 comments Add your comment
jeffrey d
July 14th, 2010
2:05 pm
Chris – I’m looking at career numbers. Gonzalez’s .294 OBP is abyssmal (worse than Francoeur’s). It’s also a sample size of nearly 5,000 ABs which I think would give an accurate estimate of what we should expect.
I understand that Yunel isn’t producing now, but he’s been a stud for most of his career, and I’d take him in a heartbeat over Alex Gonzalez.
kirkinga
July 14th, 2010
2:07 pm
And if the offense doesn’t improve “instantly” the same crowd cheering this trade will just blame TP.
Time Out
July 14th, 2010
2:08 pm
Bring back Klesko. Where is he playing right now. He could hit it into outer space on his pop outs.
Clayton
July 14th, 2010
2:08 pm
good riddance to both of them! If Yunel is so talented why can’t he put it all together, and who cares if Alex G is a true power hitter, this year he has a higher avg 17 more home runs and 30 more rbi’s and doesn’t have lapses where he doesn’t hustle or not catch an easy grounder. Yunel still hasn’t learned to hustle or be a team player and is not producing. Why not trade him? Dont understand why some would hate the trade so much, Escobar is/was the weakest part of our lineup period
Jesse Stone
July 14th, 2010
2:09 pm
I can’t believe that someone argued for Yunel earlier by saying he finished 20th in MVP voting last year. That’s hilarious. Are the people that still want Yunel the same ones that still swear Jordan Schafer is our CF of the future?
BravesFan
July 14th, 2010
2:10 pm
Love the move. A+ for Wren on this deal. Don’t forget about the minor leaguers. Gonzalez gives us pop and a 20 point higher BA.
Next up: Corey Hart
Johnnyd53221
July 14th, 2010
2:11 pm
Britney….thats all well and good for last year….hey chipper was a batting champ a couple of years ago
ReddJonn68
July 14th, 2010
2:13 pm
Ray Charles can see that this is a good move, for now. My whole thing with this organization is why wait so long. I hope this move is just not one last hurrah for Bobby, because Chipper’s departure is not far behind. None of the guys on this roster are getting any younger. Everybody wants a ring, but if not this year we better think about keeping a good core around J-Hey not just at SS but everywhere. The point I’m making it seems some of these moves happen at the last minute. We should have dumped Yunel earlier & maybe gotten some youth & power.
Jesse Stone
July 14th, 2010
2:13 pm
I work at a minor league baseball stadium. I’m looking forward to getting scouts’ opinions on this tonight.
ScoutDawg
July 14th, 2010
2:13 pm
You think Yunel was unhappy in Funlanta, just wait ‘tell he moves to Canada. If you think that change of atmosphere is going to foster Yunell into the top echelon of the AL then I have some GT season tickets that will get you to the BCS championship game as well.
Mike
July 14th, 2010
2:15 pm
Interesting trade. Hopefully Gonzalez will continue to produce and not disappear like McClouth has done.
ABravesFan
July 14th, 2010
2:16 pm
It’s good to see so many people being okay with trade…since that’s a sign of the Braves getting some love.
However, here are the numbers that is disturbing for the argument that Alex Gonzalez is an upgrade over Yunel Escobar for the remainder of the season.
OBP for this year:
A-Gon: 0.296
Yunel: 0.334
Career OBP
A-Gon: 0.294
Yunel: 0.368
For reference, in Jeff Francoeur’s bad 2008 seasons, his OBP is 0.294 and Jeff’s career OBP is 0.310.
At least UZR says that Alex Gonzalez is a solid fielder…except that Yunel outshines him for the first half of this year…
I really, really hope that the Braves can win it all this year despite of this move.
Michael M Beard
July 14th, 2010
2:17 pm
Yunel did not hustle at all sometimes. To me he had a bad attitude. This is a ggod move and Gonzalez will help this club a lot.
Anon21
July 14th, 2010
2:17 pm
Forget this “clubhouse cancer” and “bad attitude” nonsense, all of which is more than a little influenced by Yunel’s ethnicity. These people are all professionals; if Yunel’s attitude is perceived as poor, it will be ignored by his teammates, and they will continue to play their best. If Yunel wasn’t playing his best in the field, then his best would make him the best fielding shortstop in the majors by a wide margin. The numbers tell us he’s been an amazing fielder.
And as to his offense, obviously it’s been awful this year, but that isn’t going to last. Yunel’s been flashing too much talent to say definitively that now, at 27, his productive years are behind him. And no, his power outage this year isn’t due to “attitude” or “effort” or any of the other things that you guys like to throw around to keep from having to think critically. There’s definitely some bad luck to it, and possibly some problems with his conditioning, but either way there’s no reason to believe it couldn’t be corrected sometime in the THREE YEARS of team control we still had on Yunel.
The fact that Gonzalez had a career first half says very little about his second half. My prediction: it will be bad, and you guys will be wondering by the end of the year why we ever picked him up. Gonzo’s OBP is a complete joke, and the power he’s flashing isn’t sustainable.
Jesse Stone
July 14th, 2010
2:17 pm
ABravesFan- Is there a statistic for stupid plays? Is there a hustle stat?
frank pepe
July 14th, 2010
2:19 pm
are you for real with that lede? SMH
Mickey
July 14th, 2010
2:19 pm
We’re going to regret this trade a LONG LONG time. With all our ground-ball pitchers, the loss of Yunel’s league-leading defense is going to mean at least as many more runs scored as Gonzalez’s bat will add. Plus Yunel will almost certainly heat up in the second half. We had the opportunity to sign Yunel (a future many-time All Star) for a long-term cheap contract,and we gave it up. This sort of short-term thinking kills a team.
bvillebaron
July 14th, 2010
2:19 pm
I have defended Wren repeatedly while others who post here haven’t including those who think this is a good deal. I, for one, don’t get it. This is a typical example of how the Braves get rid of a better talent because he is in Cox’s doghouse. The problem is Cox will be gone next year so they better win now. I also agree with some other posters who point out that Cox seems to have much more patience with other non-Latin and in this case Cuban players (e.g. Kelly Johnson).
For those who claim Escobar is a clubhouse cancer, how do you know since you spent the same amount of time in the clubhouse as I have which is NONE. Besides, all I heard was how this team has had great chemistry so far this year and last I checked Escobar was on the team until today.
Finally, for those who think that Gonzalez is a lock to hit 10 or more homers for the rest of the year since he has hit 17 so far, consider the following:
(1) The Ted is not a home run friendly park;
(2) Gonzalez will be adjusting to new pitchers the second half since he is changing leagues;
(3) Before this season, the most homers he hit for a full season is 23 in 2004; since then his homers per season and number of games played each year is as follows
(a) 5 homers in 2005 in 130 games;
(b) 9 homers in 2006 in 111 games;
(c) 16 homers in 2007 in 110 games;
(d) no homers in no games in 2008 since he missed the season with a knee injury;
(e) 8 homers n 2009 in 112 games; and
(4) Escobar is a career .291 hitter (including hitting .238 so far this year while Gonzalez is a career .248 hitter; and
(5) Even with his mental lapses, Escobar is a superior defender.
Time will tell, of course, and I have been wrong before (ask my wife) but I for one am not sure that Escobar won’t outperform Gonzalez offensively for the remainder of this season.
Puppet Please!!
July 14th, 2010
2:20 pm
While I think I would have stuck with Yunel I am not at all surprised by the move. I think the straw that broke the camels back was last week in Philly when he lost a ball in the lights AFTER calling everyone off and let it drop to the ground for a double without asking for help. THEN, two innings later, he fields a ball behind the mound and lobs the throw to Glaus, forcing him to come off the bag and into the runner, injuring his wrist. A crisp throw from Yunel prevents that. Glaus was obviously upset by Yunel’s lackadaisical throw…and so was Bobby. When you hot dog and cadillac it on a loser, nobody cares but those things can kill a winner. What if Glaus gets hurt and is out the second half with a broken wrist? Those are the things Bobby is thinking off when Yunel does that stuff.
I fully expect Yunel to rebound and have a solid career but as long as he plays selfishly and without though of his teammates he will never be tolerated on a winning team. Mark it down.
jod
July 14th, 2010
2:20 pm
Bad move, will come back to bite us. Thanks to the good ole boys for acting quick on a down half season by Timely, nut giving Franceour all those years. Things never change.
Furman Bitcher
July 14th, 2010
2:20 pm
Ummm win now you dolts who think it was a bad trade. This helps us in the short term!!
jod
July 14th, 2010
2:21 pm
Yunel*
JASon
July 14th, 2010
2:23 pm
He hit.299 with 76 rbis last year, was 20th in MVP ballots, yet only making 435k this year. He was a good value for what he was getting paid. Look for him to play with more interest in a better organization.
ABravesFan
July 14th, 2010
2:24 pm
Jesse Stone: Actually, you can take the change in win probability from those said plays (the bad base running in NYC the first trip and the two bad plays in last Saturday’s win) and they will probably still be dwarved by the difference in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of the two players for the projected second half.
Of course, if you want to insist that Yunel’s bad throw caused some longer term injury to someone else such as Troy Glaus…
Bobby Cox
July 14th, 2010
2:25 pm
Can we trade Jeffrey D to Toronto too? His posts aggravate me the same way Yunel’s idiocy on the field did?
ReddJonn68
July 14th, 2010
2:26 pm
@ ABravesFan Amen . Finally someone sees the bigger picture. Yes we are half way there, so if we make it to the NLCS & lose, bring in a new manager who struggles to find a solid starting lineup for the next 4 years, it was all worth it.
kurula
July 14th, 2010
2:29 pm
it’s a good move. i knew he should be gone when i saw him get thrown out at third and then feign a pulled hamstring (he never so much as flexed it the rest of the game). when he almost made glaus a one-armed first baseman, you had to know that his time was short. alex gonzalez isn’t the long term answer. but he does improve this team right away. i’m also glad that jo-jo was included in the trade. it drove me crazy how many chances he got. any word on who takes his spot on the 40 man roster?
ReddJonn68
July 14th, 2010
2:29 pm
Enter your comments here
JacketFan
July 14th, 2010
2:30 pm
I don’t think half of the people on this blog actually watch the games. Yunel has been a little bltch in the clubhouse all season. I saw Chipper smacking him around one game because Yunel was having a tantrum after he got called out on what should have been a double. This guy was a cancer.
And, to the poster to commented that it has something to do with his ethnicity, you’re an idiot. The Braves have a long-standing reputation as a very international team with players from throughout Latin America and elsewhere having good success in Atlanta. Many of those players, retired, traded, etc, still call Atlanta home. This move had EVERYTHING to do with Yunel’s attitude and his performance and NOTHING to do with his race. Get a clue.
JacketFan
July 14th, 2010
2:31 pm
I don’t think half of the people on this blog actually watch the games. Yunel has been a little baby in the clubhouse all season. I saw Chipper smacking him around one game because Yunel was having a tantrum after he got called out on what should have been a double. This guy was a cancer.
And, to the poster to commented that it has something to do with his ethnicity, you’re an idiot. The Braves have a long-standing reputation as a very international team with players from throughout Latin America and elsewhere having good success in Atlanta. Many of those players, retired, traded, etc, still call Atlanta home. This move had EVERYTHING to do with Yunel’s attitude and his performance and NOTHING to do with his race. Get a clue.
Furman Bitcher
July 14th, 2010
2:31 pm
Seasonal Averages (per 162 games played)
YEARS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
8.11 162 582 68 144 35 3 16 70 31 116 3 2 .248 .294 .402 .696
This is about what you could get out of Yunel for his career except that A Gonz is hitting right now and Yunel is not. We want to win today.
Donny Corleone
July 14th, 2010
2:32 pm
You people don’t like Yunel? RAYCESS! RAYCESS!
Chris P
July 14th, 2010
2:33 pm
Spot on Mark. It was not about the team with him it was about himself.
JacketFan
July 14th, 2010
2:33 pm
To the poster to commented that it has something to do with his ethnicity, you’re an idiot. The Braves have a long-standing reputation as a very international team with players from throughout Latin America and elsewhere having good success in Atlanta. Many of those players, retired, traded, etc, still call Atlanta home. This move had EVERYTHING to do with Yunel’s attitude and his performance and NOTHING to do with his race. Get a clue.
Anon21
July 14th, 2010
2:34 pm
For all of you saying that Gonzalez improves this team right away: you do realize that we don’t get backdated credit for the home runs he swatted in the first half, right? And you also realize that if you’re betting men (or women), you should take a big under on Gonzalez hitting even 10 more HR the rest of the way, right?
It is possible that this trade will improve the Braves’ fortunes for the rest of 2010, but the odds are dead set against it.
Beekner
July 14th, 2010
2:36 pm
I think he may have ADD. Remember LaRoche had some of the same problems and it turned out he was not taking his medicine. I am sure he will get jolted out of his stupor, especially when he finds out its a lot colder in Toronto in September.
Andy
July 14th, 2010
2:37 pm
Below is a link to the story on the Toronto Star website. There have been a whopping 4 comments on the story. Either the Star has poor readership or no one cares about baseball up there. Probably more of the latter. Whoever thought of putting a baseball team in Canada where they don’t play baseball? 27th in MLB attendance. Yunel has fallen into obscurity.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/bluejays/article/835681–blue-jays-swap-shortstops-with-braves
Deb
July 14th, 2010
2:37 pm
I’ll miss him because he is the best-looking Brave!
meh
July 14th, 2010
2:37 pm
my favorite part of the trade is that Toronta took Jo Jo Reyes too.
kurula
July 14th, 2010
2:38 pm
Anon21–it’s not just the stats. in fact, even if gonzalez had 3 HRs and was hitting .230 it’d be a good trade. yunel was a drain on that team. but let’s say he does only hit 10 HRs the rest of the year….still 10 more than yunel was on pace for. that seems like an improvement to me.
athdog
July 14th, 2010
2:42 pm
Methinks that the ‘half interested, half not’ throw to Glaus, resulting in Troy’s injury was the last straw. Great talent, million dollar arm, two cent brain.
Anon21
July 14th, 2010
2:43 pm
kurula–It IS just the stats. You can’t quantify the “drain” that Yunel supposedly was on the team, which means that for purposes of a transaction, it does not exist. There is no way Frank Wren should have been factoring someone subjective perceptions about Yunel’s attitude or hustle into what was a business decision about how best to improve this team this year and moving forward. If Wren felt that Yunel’s presence in the clubhouse was unsustainable long term, then what he needed to do was wait for Yunel’s offensive numbers to rebound (which they will–in Toronto) and then sell high(er) on him. The way Wren played this weakened the team both short-term and long-term.
athdog
July 14th, 2010
2:44 pm
still, though, I’ll never forget his steal of second during his first, maybe second season where he noticed that the secondbaseman was too far from the bag, the shortstop had his back to it, effectively no one covering, and he swiped it. Heads up baseball…what happened?
coach smith
July 14th, 2010
2:49 pm
those statements by WREN make it obvious that the Braves WILL pick up Gonzales’s 2.5m dollare option for next season
Ralph
July 14th, 2010
2:50 pm
I wish they were playing tonight, I MISS THEM.
JohnSmith
July 14th, 2010
2:51 pm
I think the trade haters would feel more comfortable if they knew more about Alex Gonzalez (too early to call him A-Gone Jr.?) as a person and a player. Personally, I think his average will improve, since he’ll be coming to a better team and will be more motivated to play hard. Don’t recall much about his defense, but at least he’ll make the plays he OUGHT to make, unlike Yunel.
Route19
July 14th, 2010
2:52 pm
Probably just the start of moves for the Jays. I like the move. Hopefully Escobar will flourish with a change of scenery.
You get a great guy in Gonzalez.
http://route19.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/blue-jays-add-escobar-say-goodbye-to-gonzalez/
Tracy
July 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
I’ve learned not to second guess Cox and Schuerholz (I mean Wren) with personnel decisions. Combined, these guys know more baseball than and other managers and execs in the majors. I suspect that their might be another roster move before the deadline. But I’m really liking what they’ve put together this season.
Anon21
July 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
JohnSmith: Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Gonzalez is a career .248(!)/.294(!!)/.402 hitter, and no amount of “motivation” is going to change that at 33 years of age. He’s a terrible piece in comparison with Yunel.
Pi$$onaDawg
July 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
Sounds like a good move for TODAY. Hope it does payoff this season.