Mets deal Eduardo Escobar to Angels for minor leaguers Coleman Crow, Landon Marceaux

PHILADELPHIA — Third base officially belongs to Brett Baty.

The Mets traded Eduardo Escobar and cash considerations to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for two minor league pitchers Friday night in the middle of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Mets trailing their NL East rivals, 2-0, the club announced the trade for right-handers Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux, both of whom are Double-A starters.

Escobar, a 34-year-old Venezuelan third baseman, has had a tough season, though you wouldn’t know it by his upbeat demeanor. There was pressure for him to perform this spring with Baty, one of the Mets’ top prospects, knocking at the door. He struggled during the World Baseball Classic and in spring training. He failed to hit during the early part of the season and the Mets were forced to call up Baty in late April.

Escobar performed well in a reserve role, hitting .394 with two home runs in the month of May, but he’s come back down again, going 4 for 20 with only one extra-base hit since June 1. Escobar is slashing .236/.286/.409 with a .695 OPS and four home runs. He has an OPS+ of 92.

The team didn’t really have a place for Escobar after they called Luis Guillorme back to the major leagues. With former Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela out for the season in Anaheim and Anthony Rendon on the injured list, the Angels have a need at third base.

Escobar showed great respect to Baty and the club has continued to praise him and his work ethic and willingness to help Baty and Mark Vientos improve defensively at the hot corner. He’s a well-liked teammate in the clubhouse and well-liked by manager Buck Showalter.

General manager Billy Eppler should be familiar with Crow since he drafted him as the general manager of the Angels in 2019 in the 28th round of the draft. The 22-year-old is currently on the 7-day minor league injured list, but the Georgia native was 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in four starts for Double-A Rocket City before the injury. Marceaux was chosen by the Yankees in the 2018 draft but opted to play college ball at LSU and went to the Angels in the third round of the 2021 draft. The 23-year-old is 3-6 with a 6.41 ERA in 12 Double-A starts this season.

MLB Pipeline rates Crow and Marceaux as the 19th and 20th-best prospects in the Los Angeles system. The Mets are lacking pitching depth at the upper levels of the minor league system and this move helps add a little of it, while also opening up third base permanently for Baty and Vientos.