Two years ago today, the Mets signed Kelvim Escobar to an incentive-laden one-year deal worth $1.25MM guaranteed. Escobar hurt his shoulder (again) and never did pitch for the Amazin's, and over the last four seasons he's appeared in just one game due to shoulder problems. Here's the latest from the NL East…
- The Marlins have hired former Rays bullpen coach Bobby Ramos to be their Latin American player development coordinator, writes Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel. It's a new position the team created because none of their minor league coordinators are Hispanic, and they felt it was imperative to have a Spanish-speaker around all of their young prospects from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, etc.
- Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider looked at the back of the Nationals' rotation, where Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, and John Lannan are competing for two spots. Detwiler is out of options, but Wang and Lannan will earn $4MM+ next season.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday writes that he likes the Nationals' acquisition of Gio Gonzalez, even though it feels like an overpay for a pitcher who is good rather than great. With plenty of focus already directed at Stephen Strasburg, it seems unlikely that Gonzalez will be overwhelmed by attention in Washington.
- Overall, the Nationals landed a good starter in Gonzalez, but the club has to realize that they will have to deal with some frustration over the next few years in addition to the positives, writes Dave Cameron of Fangraphs.
