Your 2015 Second Baseman - Yunel Escobar

Mike Rizzo finally made his move tonight to sure up second base for the 2015 season and possibly further. Tonight, the Washington Nationals traded set up man Tyler Clippard to the Oakland Athletics for shortstop Yunel Escobar. Escobar wasn't even able to set his bags down in Oakland before he was traded again. If you recall, Escobar was traded to Oakland with Ben Zobrist just last Saturday (yes, that was the same trade that included Boog Powell). 

Do I like this move? Yes. Do I love this move? No. Clippard was an incredibly valuable piece of the Nats bullpen, especially last year when his ERA stood at 2.18. He was an awesome 8th inning guy and it's going to be very difficult to replace his productivity. With that being said, Clippard is projected to earn between $9-10 million this year in his final year of arbitration. That's a lot of money to pay a set up man. The part that is a bit confusing to me is that the Nationals could have resigned Asdrubal Cabrera for around the same amount of money that they are going to pay Escobar and still kept Clippard this season. Rizzo is a smart guy though and Escobar may not have been his number one option going into the offseason, but I think he had him ranked ahead of Cabrera for sure. Escobar and Cabrera have both been in the league for 8 years. Over those 8 years, Cabrera has been worth 20.7 WAR, while Escobar has been worth 23 WAR. Not a huge difference, but the bottom line is, it is a difference. Escobar is set to earn $5 million this season, $7 million next season, and he has a $7 million club option or a $1 million buyout. Rizzo traded one year of control of Clippard for potentially three years of control of Escobar at a reasonable price.

Having Escobar under team control for up to three years is big being that Ian Desmond is a free agent after this upcoming season. Trea Turner, who the Nationals just acquired from the Padres, just finished his first season of pro baseball. Chances are he won't be ready for the Majors for another two years. That means if Desmond leaves after this season, Escobar can slide over to shortstop for a year until Turner is ready. That in and of itself made it easier for Rizzo to deal Clippard here.

Escobar should be a nice addition to the Nationals lineup. He can hit for a little bit of power, he gets on base, and the best part is, he doesn't strike out that much. Over the course of his career, he's struck out 498 times over 3,913 at bats. That's just 12.7% in case you were wondering. Just for fun, lets take a look at what the Nationals lineup may look like on April 6th when they take the field against the Mets:

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Anthony Rendon, 3B

3. Jayson Werth, LF

4. Ryan Zimmerman, 1B

5. Bryce Harper, RF

6. Ian Desmond, SS

7. Wilson Ramos, C

8. Yunel Escobar, 2B

9. Pitcher

Obviously, if Werth is to miss the beginning of the season, the lineup would change a good amount. If he doesn't though, that's a pretty nice lineup I'd say. Don't be surprised if Bryce moves up or down a spot in that lineup. Yup, I said it, it's finally time to give Bryce a chance at hitting cleanup.