’bout time?

Yunel Escobar’s antics may finally have caught up with him. Atlanta has traded its enigmatic shortstop, getting veteran Alex Gonzalez from Toronto as part of the five-player deal. Though he was slumping this season, Escobar can play, no doubt. But his showboat habits were always troubling, even when he was with the Mississippi Braves in 2006. He’d double-pump on ground balls just to show off his arm, snatch throws with his bare hand, nod in agreement or disagreement about ball-and-strike calls, chirp and whistle in the infield and sulk when things weren’t going his way. He was never Bobby Cox’s kind of player. But his talent had won the Braves over. Remember, they traded away Elvis Andrus in part because they had Escobar already producing in the big leagues, apparently entrenched. Now he’s gone. Maybe the time was right for this move. The Braves could be better this year with Gonzalez. But what about 2011? Brandon Hicks?