Blue Jays reportedly "moving toward a deal" with All-Star infielder

After what felt like a stretch of silence that would last forever, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to finally be making a move. According to multiple reports - including MLB Network's Jon Heyman and FanSided's Robert Murray - the Jays are "moving toward a deal" with free agent infielder Eduardo Escobar.

As Heyman pointed out, the deal is pending a physical. Sportsnet's Shi Davidi has followed up the announcement saying that it is a minor league deal for the former All-Star.

Adding Escobar to an already overcrowded infield mix is, in a word, confusing. The switch-hitter is coming off of a dreadful season in which he hit .226 with a -1.1 bWAR and 67 OPS+. He split his time in 2023 between the Mets and Angels.

It is the best case scenario that the 35-year-old is brought aboard on a minor league pact. This way, he does not immediately need to hold down a 40-man roster (which is already full) spot. If he was signing a big league deal, there would need to be a player removed from the roster. Otto Lopez was recently sent packing to make room for Yariel Rodriguez, so it's worth wondering if there could be another trade on the horizon this time.

Over the course of his career, Escobar has historically been much better against left-handed pitching. He has a .276 career average and 112 OPS+ against southpaws against a .242 average and 95 OPS+ against right-handers. He feels like a candidate to drop switch-hitting, but at this point in his career, it may be too late to start experimenting with something like that.

He joins an infield logjam that consists of Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Davis Schneider, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez, Justin Turner, Santiago Espinal and Leo Jimenez. All of these players occupy spots on the 40-man roster and are essentially playing the exact same positions. There's going to be some movement at some point regarding the infield picture, it's just not clear when or how that will happen.