Rays trade for Yunel Escobar
By Matt Snyder | Senior Blogger
December 4, 2012 10:30 pm ET
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar from the Miami Marlins via trade, the club announced late Tuesday night. In return, the Marlins would receive minor-league middle infielder Derek Dietrich.
Yunel Escobar, Miami hardly knew you. (US Presswire)
Escobar, 30, hit .253/.300/.344 with nine homers, 51 RBI and 58 runs in 145 games for the Blue Jays last season. He fell out of favor late last season due to his poor play in addition to playing with a homophobic slur written in Spanish on his eye black during a game in September.
Escobar was then traded to the Marlins as part of the blockbuster deal that sent three All-Stars -- Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson -- to the Blue Jays. The deal became official Nov. 19, so Escobar only spent a few weeks as a member of the Marlins.
Dietrich, a 23-year-old second-rounder in 2010 out of Georgia Tech, is a career .278/.342/.470 hitter across parts of three minor-league seasons. In 2012, he batted a combined .279/.338/.457 with 14 homers and 28 doubles for High-A Charlotte and Double-A Montgomery. Baseball America recently listed him as the ninth-best prospect in the Rays' system.
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