It's become a rite of spring that once the glitzy coverage of the Super Bowl has ended, the sports world turns its eyes to baseball. For La Esquina, though, it's the end of the Caribbean Series -- the final offseason baseball event -- that brings baseball and the warm Arizona and Florida sunshine that accompanies it onto our radar. The Dominican Republic's Caribbean Series win on Sunday allows baseball fans to turn their focus toward the major league season. For some players, the end of the winter hibernation can't come soon enough. For those whose winter was spent piling up stats, the end of the Caribbean baseball season signals an opportunity to build upon the success of the last few months.

Of course, success in winter ball doesn't necessarily translate to success in MLB. Does anyone remember that last year Venezuelan outfielder Gregor Blanco hit .349 for the Tiburones de la Guaira then hit just .228 in the Braves minor league system? But not all winter league successes are empty promises. Last year, Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval hit .396 with 12 home runs for the Navegantes de Magallanes and then followed that with a breakout season for San Francisco.