KC Royals Potential Departures Vol. 3: Alcides Escobar

May 1, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) connects for a double in the third inning against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Many tough choices are going to be made at Kauffman Stadium over the next few months. Alcides Escobar is the next one we’ll make here for the KC Royals.

Name: Alcides Escobar

Agent: The Legacy Agency

Career Numbers:

Importance: Starting shortstop and versatile bat (probably!)

History of Success

I suppose this depends on how you define success.

You all probably remember being in school and doing group projects. In a group of four, there would be one kid who did nothing to contribute and was usually not asked to contribute anything, either because they were unreliable, stupid or a combination of the two. There was the go-getter who wanted an A+ in everything lest they be unable to receive that free ride to Harvard; they would usually recruit another group member into contributing through charisma, intimidation or (if they were attractive) shameless flirting.

The fourth member of any successful group project just did what they needed to do—no more, no less. They would provide a couple of brilliant insights, knock out their portion of the project and make sure that no one could call into question their contributions.

So was that person successful? Or simply success-adjacent?

Now we can talk about Alcides Escobar.

At no point during his career has Esky been considered integral to the KC Royals success. He won 2015 ALCS MVP, sure, and homered in that season’s World Series. When he was good, he was good and his consistency—both in sustaining a high level of play and simply always being in the lineup—are virtues to be lauded.

But calling Alcides Escobar essential to the KC Royals success would be akin to dubbing your hedge clippers essential to yard work. Yeah, they may make some things easier… but if you had to get along without them, you’d manage.

(Quick aside: I know Royals Review did a similar piece yesterday. My defense is ~~I was already working on this series and they should get off my corner~~ there’s no reason both can’t exist in this beautiful world, amirite?)

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