Royals Rumors: Alcides Escobar could be lone free agent staying put

While Royals rumors will be swirling over which members of the Kansas City Royals could be leaving the club soon, there’s not many as to who’s staying. Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe thinks Alcides Escobar will be staying in Kansas City.

Ask any Kansas City Royals fan who they’d like to see stay on the team beyond the 2017 season and I highly doubt many of them would answer with Alcides Escobar. That’s what Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe is predicting though.

"The Royals have their scouts scouring the farm systems of organizations they feel they might match up with in trades for pending free agents Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas. The prevailing thought is the Royals can move Cain the easiest, but he’s the one they’d most like to keep. They will likely re-sign shortstop Alcides Escobar, whose contract also expires after the season."

When I first heard these Royals rumors surface last week, I was a bit surprised. Sure, Royals Nation has had some great memories with Alcides Escobar, but he’s just not good at the plate anymore. Forty-three games into 2017, Escobar is slashing .180/.208/.230 with 161 at bats. He’s yet to hit a home run, though in Esky’s defense, he’s never really been a home run hitter.

Another reason why retaining Escobar doesn’t make sense is that Raul Mondesi Jr. is the shortstop of the future. He’s not hitting well either this season and has spent the last month down in Triple-A Omaha working on his plate discipline, but Mondesi will be future shortstop super star of the future for the Royals.

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So why re-sign Alcides Escobar then?

My guess as to why the KC Royals would want to bring Escobar back would have to be that he’d be a cheap option and still has the chops defensively. Cost wise, I don’t see any teams wanting to break the bank to acquire a shortstop batting .180 two months into the season.

If the Royals are looking to keep their defense sharp after their big guns at the season’s end, keeping Escobar isn’t a horrible idea. Still though… Is it worth keeping him just for the defense? After all, that’s essentially what the team is doing with Alex Gordon right now (though Escobar’s contract wouldn’t be anywhere close to what Gordo raked in) and do the Royals really need two of those guys on their roster?

While Escobar is good defensively, his offense has slowly diminished over the years. He’s had some great moments in Kansas City, like winning the ALCS MVP in 2015, hitting an inside the park home run on the first pitch of the 2015 World Series, and making ridiculous web gem after ridiculous web gem, but the team can’t keep looking back at the past if they want to contend in the near future.

What do you think, Royals fans? Should the team keep Alcides Escobar, who will be a cheap option or should they move on from him?

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