Someone get him to Fogo de Chao stat!
In July of 2012, the Minnesota Twins gave up on SP Francisco Liriano. Despite singular years of dominance—2006 & 2010—and one of the strangest no-hitters ever thrown, Frankie simply proved too inconsistent to be part of longer-term plans.
So, Liriano was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Pedro Hernandez and Eduardo Escobar. The former made little impact—the latter became a fan-favorite.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
In an extremely small 104 PA sample with the Sox, Escobar produced a 52 OPS+. Suffice it to say, the narrative surrounding him was “defensive utility guy able to play many positions”.
EE certainly lived up to the fielding billing, playing a lot of SS & 3B for Ron Gardenhire and Paul Molitor’s 2012-2018 squads while also filling it at 2B & LF when absolutely necessary.
Photo By Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images
But Ed’s offensive capabilities far surpassed expectations at an about-league-average 97 OPS+—showing surprising pop with the bat. Escobar’s gregarious nature easily classified him as a clubhouse leader and fan favorite with the Target Field faithful.
In July of 2018 with another season circling the basin, the Twins flipped Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospects. Most flamed out, but one—Jhoan Duran—just flamed.
Some ten years later, MN took a similar path with Willi Castro.
Willi’s wider sample size with the Detroit Tigers—4 seasons, .673 OPS, 87 OPS+—again projected a do-it-all utility player as opposed to much of a batter’s box bastion.
But like EE before him, The Commandant upped his batsmanship after joining Rocco’s bunch: .725 OPS, 101 OPS+ in ‘23-’25. This in addition to a true play-anywhere role.
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
If a 2024 All-Star Game appearance didn’t fully speak to the extent of Willi’s workmanship, the fan base’s christening of him as last year’s team MVP certainly does.
Castro gets exposed a bit when playing on an every day basis—granted, so did Escobar—but his acumen as a 4/5 times a week starter, late-inning weapon, and general wreaker of havoc on the base paths has been extremely impressive.
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
There remains but one thing left to say about the Escobar/Castro comparison: has anyone introduced Willi to Fogo de Chao?!