Athletics claim Yunel Escobar off revocable trade waivers from Rays

The Athletics have been awarded a revocable waiver claim on Rays' shortstop Yunel Escobar and have until 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday to work out a trade for him, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The Rays could also simply send Escobar and his entire salary to the Athletics in exchange for no compensation.

Oakland recently lost starting shortstop Jed Lowrie to a fractured finger, and are apparently interested in Escobar as a solution at shortstop for the stretch run. Escobar is hitting .249/.313/.316 in 111 games for the Rays this season, and the Rays would likely be willing to move him due to their recent addition of Nick Franklin, who they received from the Mariners in the David Price trade.

Escobar signed a contract extension in early April that will pay him a guaranteed $13 million over the next two seasons, which seems like a fair price for a 31-year old who is a consistently good defender at the major league level. The A's would not have claimed him if they were unwilling to pay that salary, and could keep him for the next two seasons once Lowrie leaves as a free agent after the season.