Signing
On July 2, 2006, the Nationals signed Alvarez, then known as Esmailyn Gonzalez, as an international free agent. He was given a $1.4 million signing bonus. The Nationals were given information that Alvarez was born on September 21, 1989, a date which the MLB office confirmed for at least three interested teams, including Washington. He made his debut for the Gulf Coast League Nationals in 2007. In 2008, he hit for a combined line of .343/.431/.475 which was quite impressive for an 18 year old in Rookie ball.
Read more about this topic: Carlos Lugo (baseball)