Alcides Escobar of Tiburones de la Guaira of Venezuela reacts in the fourth inning of a game between Venezuela and Dominican Republic at loanDepot park as part of the Serie del Caribe 2024 on February 1, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Luis Gutierrez/Norte Photo/Getty Images)
By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
Former Major League Baseball shortstop Alcides Escobar will play for the Tigres de Quintana Roo during the 2024 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol season, the team announced on Thursday.
Escobar will play in his second consecutive season in LMB during 2024.
Escobar, 37, was born in La Sabana, Venezuela, and has played in 13 MLB seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2008-10, the Kansas City Royals from 2011-18, and the Washington Nationals from 2021-22.
Escobar also played in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows during the 2020 season.
He also played with the Tiburones de La Guaira for the 2023-24 Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional regular season and helped them win their first Caribbean Series title on Feb. 9, when they beat the 2023-24 LIDOM champion Tigres del Licey in the championship game 3-0 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Escobar played in 39 games during the 2023-24 regular season, batting .305 over 154 plate appearances with 43 hits, six doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, five stolen bases, six walks, and 20 strikeouts.
During the 2024 Caribbean Series, Escobar played in seven games and batted .412 in 17 at-bats, scoring four runs, seven hits, one double, one home run, two RBI, one stolen base, one walk, and one strikeout during the pool round.
In the Caribbean Series playoffs, Escobar hit .200 in five at-bats over two games, recording one hit, one RBI, one walk, and striking out once.
Last season, Escobar split time between the Leones de Yucatan and the Acereros de Monclova in LMB. Escobar played in 55 games with Yucatan, making 224 plate appearances, batting .240 with 49 hits, nine doubles, one home run, 17 RBI, 12 walks, 35 strikeouts, and a .595 OPS before being released on July 8, 2023.
Escobar signed with the Acereros de Monclova on July 9. He played in 26 games in Monclova, batting .330 with 36 hits, four doubles, one triple, five home runs, 17 RBI, seven walks, and 14 strikeouts. The Acereros de Monclova entered the 2023 playoffs after finishing in sixth place with a record of 46-43 in the Zone del Norte, and were swept in four games in the first round, losing to the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos.
Escobar played in the 2022-23 LVBP season with the Tiburones de La Guaira, batting .309 in 21 games with 25 hits, four doubles, seven RBI, five walks, and nine strikeouts.
During the 2022 season in Washington, Escobar played in 42 games, batting .218 with\ 27 hits, four doubles, two triples, eight RBI, five walks, and 32 strikeouts before being released on Aug. 3.
In his 13 seasons during his MLB career, Escobar has played in 1,154 games with a career average of .258, with 1,486 hits, 249 doubles, 58 triples, 45 home runs, 478 RBI, 178 stolen bases, 253 walks, 864 strikeouts, and a .640 OPS.
Escobar has played 10 seasons in Mexico, Venezuela and Japan with a career average of .287 in 456 games with 467 hits, 70 doubles, seven triples, 15 home runs, 160 RBI, 47 stolen bases, 90 walks, 210 strikeouts, and a .700 OPS.
The first game of the 2024 LMB regular season is scheduled for April 11, with the Diablos Rojos del México traveling to Puebla, Mexico, to take on the Pericos de Puebla at Estadio Hermanos Serdán.
The Tigres de Quintana Roo will play their first game of the 2024 LMB season at home on April 12 in Cancun, Mexico against the Conspiradores de Querétaro at Estadio de Beisbol Beto Ávila. No game start times have yet been announced.