Three days after the Los Angeles Angels acquired him from the New York Mets, infielder Eduardo Escobar was placed on the restricted list Monday.
The reason: Escobar is scheduled to take his United States citizenship test on Tuesday in Miami.
Escobar, 34, is from Venezuela and now lives in Miami with his wife and children. The citizenship test was already in his plans before the Mets executed the trade.
“It was really, really important to him, and I don’t blame him,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said.
The Angels opened a home series against the Chicago White Sox with a 2-1 win Monday night. Minasian said Escobar will be back in the lineup by Wednesday, with a chance of playing Tuesday night.
The Mets traded Escobar and cash considerations to the Angels on Friday night in exchange for Double-A right-handed pitchers Landon Marceaux and Coleman Crow.
Escobar’s Angels debut came in the team’s 25-1 thrashing of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. Escobar did his part by going 2-for-4 with four runs and one RBI. He had another two hits in Sunday’s series finale, including a triple.
In 42 games with the Mets and Angels this season, Escobar is batting .254 with four home runs, 17 RBIs and 20 runs.
In a related move, Los Angeles recalled outfielder Jo Adell from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Adell, 24, has spent most of the season at Triple-A after playing 161 games for the Angels in his first three MLB seasons. In Adell’s lone major league game of 2023, he hit a solo home run in three at-bats during a 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on June 8.
Angels catcher Chris Okey also cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Salt Lake.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.