by Steve Carney
Yunel Escobar is moving back north, just not quite as far this time.
The shortstop was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays late Tuesday night from the Miami Marlins in echange for minor-league infielder Derek Dietrich.
Escobar, 30, hit .a career-low .253 in 2012, with nine home runs and 51 runs batted in in 145 games with the Toronto Blue Jays. His season was defined by his three-game suspension by the team in September for writing a homophobic slur (in Spanish).
Executive VP Andrew Friedman said the team did its "digging" and is convinced that was an isolated incident that Escobar learned from. Click HERE for more of Friedman's comments.
The righthander from Havana, Cuba, has a career .282 / .353 / .390 average in 784 games with the Atlanta Braves and Blue Jays. He had been acquired by the Marlins earlier this offseason in the blockbuster trade that sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Josh Johnson among others north of the border.
Escobar is scheduled to earn $5 million in 2013 and has team options for 2014 and 2015 at $5 million per season.
Below is the release from the team.
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ST. PETERSBURG, FL—The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar from the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor league infielder Derek Dietrich.
Escobar, 30, was acquired by Miami on November 19 in a 12-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. In six major league seasons with the Atlanta Braves (2007-10) and Blue Jays (2010-12), he is a career .282 hitter with 53 home runs, 140 doubles and a .353 on-base percentage.
In 2012 with Toronto, Escobar batted .253 (141-for-558) with nine home runs and 51 RBI in a career-high 145 games, including 140 starts at shortstop. His .982 fielding percentage ranked fourth among major league shortstops, trailing only J.J. Hardy of the Baltimore Orioles, Jhonny Peralta of the Detroit Tigers and Brendan Ryan of the Seattle Mariners. The right-handed hitter is a native of Havana, Cuba.
Dietrich, 23, was named the Most Valuable Player for Class-A Charlotte in 2012 and finished the season with Double-A Montgomery following a July 28 promotion. For Charlotte, he batted .282 (105-for-372) with a team-leading 10 home runs and 58 RBI. A midseason Florida State League All-Star, he tied for third in the league with nine triples. In a combined 132 games at both levels he hit .279 (141-for-505) with 14 homers, 75 RBI, 28 doubles and 10 triples. Dietrich was recently named the No. 9 prospect in the Rays organization by Baseball America entering 2013. He was selected by the Rays in the second round of the 2010 June Draft.
