No more second thoughts for Yunel Escobar

VIERA, Fla. - Yunel Escobar wasn't thrilled when he found out he was headed to the Nationals in a trade last month. That's because Nats general manager Mike Rizzo made the move to acquire Escobar not to play shortstop, but rather second base, a position the 32-year-old hasn't seen action at since his rookie season in 2007.

"I had a conversation with him through his interpreter over the phone that day, the day the trade was official, and explained our desire to him," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "He explained to me his reservation about it, because it's something new. I, for one, understand that's the natural response, 'What do you mean I'm not playing the position that I've played generally my whole life?' He should have that response. That's normal."

Johnny DiPuglia, the Nationals international scouting director, has a relationship with Escobar dating back to when the infielder first came over from Cuba. Rizzo asked Dipuglia to go see Escobar right after the trade occurred in mid-January to convey the Nats' plans for him to play second base. DiPuglia said the eight-year veteran was hesitant at first.

"Yeah, it caught him by surprise," DiPuglia said, translating for Escobar. "But the reality is when you sit and you see the writing on the wall that he could be a very important piece of a world championship team by him playing second base, he decided that yeah, that's probably the best thing for him to do and it'd be a smart move."

Escobar said his only experience playing second base came in his rookie season with Atlanta when manager Bobby Cox told him to go field ground balls there. Escobar agreed to try it out for fear of being sent back to Triple-A. He ended up playing in 21 games at second that season and hasn't played as much as one inning there since.

For the first time in seven years, Escobar ran onto the practice field outside Space Coast Stadium Thursday morning and kicked some dirt around at his new position. Standing 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Escobar's athletic frame more resembles that of an NFL safety. Williams was impressed early, especially by Escobar's work ethic.

"What I saw was a guy that certainly has skill and can play anywhere on the diamond if he wanted to," Williams said. "Beyond that, what I saw was a guy that came and asked for some extra work after practice. That's the most important thing for me. It tells me that he's going to take pride in playing second base, that he takes pride in his game in general and he wants to work at it. So we made an agreement that barring being sore or going through the spring training soreness, he'd like to do that on an everyday basis, which is a really good sign. We are happy to oblige him with all the work that he wants to have, for sure."

According to Williams, Escobar's biggest challenges at his new position are dealing with footwork, arm angles and questioning how deep to play and how close he should be to second base during a double play.

In acquiring Escobar, Rizzo mainly hoped to improve the offensive production out of the second base spot in the lineup while also providing security at shortstop should the organization not reach a contract extension with Ian Desmond at some point this season.

On paper, Escobar certainly appears capable of filling the offensive hole in the Nats lineup. He owns a .276 batting average for his career with 69 home runs and 393 RBIs. His best offensive season came in 2009, when he hit 14 home runs, drove in 76 runs and batted .299 with Atlanta. But he hasn't hit above .260 the past three seasons and slashed .258/.324/.340 with seven homers and 39 RBIs last year with Tampa Bay. He's also coming off his worst year defensively, but was a Gold Glove finalist in 2012.

All parties met again Wednesday, the day before the first workouts, to begin this new chapter together.

"We explained to him that we view him as a very important part of our team, and he expressed to us that he has 100 percent bought into playing second base," Williams said. "He loves D.C. He loves the National League East. He's had some of his best years there (with Atlanta). He is excited to be here with this club and ready to go. He asked us to be patient with him, because it's something new, and we explained that we're here to help in any way that we can. I mean, if he wants to take grounders at 5 a.m., we'll be here, and we'll help him along that way."