The Minnesota Twins’ trade of Eduardo Escobar on Friday came so suddenly and in such a stealth manner that it even caught the team’s manager and players off-guard.
News of the Twins trading Escobar to the Diamondbacks came out less than three hours before the team’s scheduled game against the Boston Red Sox. Manager Paul Molitor learned of the trade while watching TV, according to Twins reporter Rhett Bollinger.
We were in Molitor’s office when it flashed across the screen the Twins had agreed to deal Eduardo Escobar to the D-backs. It was the first Molitor had heard of it. Still hasn’t changed lineup yet.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) July 27, 2018
Similarly, Chris Cotillo says the team’s players also learned of the trade via TV.
Twins players just saw news of Eduardo Escobar trade to Arizona on clubhouse TV. Surprised.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 27, 2018
Molitor was so thrown off that he had to make lineup changes after learning that he had lost his third baseman.
Minnesota received three players from Arizona in return — Jhoan Duran, Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel.
Sources: The Twins are getting RHP Jhoan Duran, OF Ernie De La Trinidad and OF Gabriel Maciel from the Diamondbacks for Eduardo Escobar. All three are at Class A Kane County.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2018
This isn’t the first time MLB players have learned of a trade from the TV. Even if that feeling could be awkward for players and managers, it shows at least that the parties involved avoided media leaks, which is a plus.
