NEWSLETTER
We’ll wait for some more confirmation on this one before we know it’s locked down (or what kind of deal it is), but this account tends to be quite reliable on news out of Japan.
The Chicago Cubs are signing lefty reliever Edwin Escobar:
Back in the day, Edwin Escobar was a top-100 prospect in the Red Sox farm system, but he couldn’t quite break out in the big leagues (first with the Red Sox in 2014, and then with the Diamondbacks in 2016). He headed to Japan after that to make some money, and fashioned himself into a pretty darn good reliever there. Over the last four seasons, he’s posted ERAs of 2.17, 3.26, 2.42, and 3.33, striking out close to a batter an inning, and limiting the walks and homers.
I don’t have much in the way of recent scouting report on Escobar just yet – only the NPB numbers – so it’d be early to speculate on the type or size of contract here. Tentatively could see this as a relatively low cost big league deal? He had reportedly been sitting at about 96 mph with his fastball this year. At first blush, I like what I’m seeing in the numbers, and I like the idea of taking a successful reliever with a plus fastball out of Japan and seeing if he can translate back in MLB. Escobar would be far from the first pitcher to go over there, develop, and come back to success.
Edwin Escobar, a native Venezuelan, is currently pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League, and will turn 32 in April. I wonder if Jed Hoyer did some in-person scouting during the regular season when he was in Japan.
More soon. In the meantime, chew on this side note: in his time in Japan, Escobar has been a long-time teammate of lefty starter Shota Imanaga, to whom the Cubs have frequently been connected this offseason.
UPDATE: Found a video of Edwin Escobar pitching in Japan, so you can see he’s got a low arm slot and a funky delivery, which I’m sure appealed to the Cubs:
Also, here’s Escobar striking out his cousin Alcides in winter ball:
