The Royals are near a deal to re-sign shorstop Alcides Escobar, according to reports from both FanRag reporter Jon Heyman and MLB.com reporter Jeffrey Flanagan. The 31-year old has spent the last seven years with the Royals after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers. He was an All-Star in 2015, winning a Gold Glove and American League Championship Series MVP. Last year he hit .250/.272/.357 with six home runs, and played in all 162 games for the second consecutive year.
Escobar was a 2.5 WAR player as recently as 2014, according to Baseball Reference, but has been barely over replacement level since then.