Francisco Lindor, Buck Showalter react as Mets trade Eduardo Escobar to Angels
The Mets traded 3B Eduardo Escobar to the Los Angeles Angels during Friday's 5-1 loss at the Philadelphia Phillies, and the news registered candid reactions from SS Francisco Lindor and manager Buck Showalter.
"One of the best teammates I've ever had," Lindor said in an interview with the Apple TV broadcast. "He's an amazing player. I just found out in the dugout. We're going to miss him a lot. I don't know where he went. But wherever he goes, hopefully, he gets the opportunity and helps that team win. He's one of the players that is good with the culture, and we're going to miss him a lot.
"He has helped me -- he was my locker mate back at Citi Field -- and he's been there for the nights I've had rough nights. He was there for me. So I'm definitely going to miss him."
Escobar, 34, slashed .236/.286/.409 with four home runs and 16 RBI in 40 games this season.
"It's tough," Showalter said after the game. "There's always a reminder of the business of the game now and then. That's a tough conversation -- I think it was the second inning, somewhere around there, when I had to talk to him. (General manager) Billy Eppler had alerted me that it might come together during the game. That's a tough conversation. I wish I had more time to spend with him, but I spent some time with him up the runway and it was tough.
"Everybody has a lot of respect for him. And I think the thing that makes it a little more palatable is it's a good spot for him, a good place for him to reestablish himself -- the player that we know he can be. So we're happy for him and the opportunity that he's going to get. But, obviously, we'll miss having him around. He's a special young man."
The Mets are paying all of Escobar's salary except the required minimum to get the prospects they wanted -- RHPs Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux, according to SNY MLB insider Andy Martino.
"Eduardo Escobar, they love -- but he's not a player, they felt, fit the roster anymore," Martino said. "So they're paying him to play somewhere else. And, as a result, they got two young pitchers, who they liked, from the Angels.
"It's just more evidence of (Mets owner Steve) Cohen's financial commitment to the team and the fact that he trusts and his front office to make the evaluations, going forward, for this trade-deadline season."
