Angels acquire Eduardo Escobar from Mets

The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran infielder Eduardo Escobar and cash considerations from the New York Mets in exchange for pitching prospects Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux, the teams announced Friday.

New York is covering all of Escobar's remaining salary, save for the required minimum, a source told SNY's Andy Martino. The 34-year-old is owed around $5 million over the rest of this season and has a $9-million club option for 2024 that contains a $500,000 buyout.

By covering his salary, the Mets received their choice of prospects from Los Angeles, Martino reports.

"Steve (Cohen) makes stuff like this happen because he's willing to spend the money," Mets general manager Billy Eppler said, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Escobar will provide the Angels with some much-needed infield depth after a rash of injuries for the team over the last few weeks. Starting shortstop Zach Neto and third baseman Anthony Rendon are both on the injured list, while the team recently lost the versatile Gio Urshela for the season due to a fractured pelvis.

His versatility will help the Angels immensely as they assemble a patchwork infield. Though primarily a third baseman, Escobar has started more than 100 games at both shortstop and second base, and he also has experience in the outfield. He's registered at least one appearance at all nine positions.

Escobar joined the Mets before the 2022 season and was their starting third baseman last year. But he's struggled offensively in 2023, hitting .236/.286/.409 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 40 games for New York while losing much of his playing time to highly-touted prospect Brett Baty.

The switch-hitting Venezuelan owns a lifetime .742 OPS with 162 homers and 621 RBIs across parts of 13 big-league campaigns between five teams. He was an All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019.

Crow, 22, ranked as the Angels' No. 19 prospect, per MLB.com, prior to the trade. The Georgia native is currently on the injured list but put up a 1.88 ERA and 0.63 WHIP with 31 strikeouts in four starts for Double-A Rocket City this year before being sidelined.

Marceaux, the Halos' No. 20 prospect, owns a 4.88 ERA and 1.54 WHIP with 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 12 starts with Rocket City. Los Angeles picked the 23-year-old in the third round out of LSU in 2021.