Olivera Update

[rico43]

If we still have inciarte and mallex after the deadline, we probably won't see Olivera this year

We still hear there's a chance that Mallex might need surgery on that thumb. Unfortunately, he seems to be as injury prone as Olivera.

[NinersSBChamps]

He got hit by a pitch in his first AB. I'm not mad about it.

Woman pitcher?

[NinersSBChamps]

I think it's too early to count out Hector as a hitter. He didn't have that many ABs.

I hope he plays really well and helps us in the 2nd half.

He's on the wrong side of 30. How much longer does he have?

[chop2chip]

The Kawekami thing was so weird to me. He wasn't that bad of a pitcher, IIRC... and was making real money. Not sure why we burried him.

I think the idea at the time was to make him miserable riding minor league buses across the rural South, so that he would go back to Japan, so that his contract would void.

[CrimsonCowboy]

[UNCBlue012]

It sucks because I was so excited about what he could bring us. He did the exact things he didn't need to do and screwed up himself and the franchise. If he was even close to the guy he was supposed to be, this rebuild is looking really good.

[Southcack77]

I think it's funny that the team has completely abandoned even the pretense that Olivera is capable of being an excellent hitter in the majors. They swore he was going to hold down third and be a presence in the middle of the lineup for years when we traded for him. By the time the offseason rolled around they still swore by his offensive potential but you could start to detect a hint of desperation there. Now they've just accepted that he's a pretty lousy player. If he weren't owed the money he is then I'm convinced he'd already have been cut.

I'm not sure they have completely abandoned it. He's still on the team and he is reporting to the GCL and expected to be promoted to Gwinnett after a few games.

[UNCBlue012]

I'm not sure they have completely abandoned it. He's still on the team and he is reporting to the GCL and expected to be promoted to Gwinnett after a few games.

Part of me is so against bringing him back but he could be a huge help if he gets close to his upside.

[nsacpi]

The Kawakami treatment would include exile to Pearl.

[Southcack77]

Part of me is so against bringing him back but he could be a huge help if he gets close to his upside.

I just don't worry too much about punishing players for off the field behavior further than the justice system or the commissioner's office. I don't exactly know what he did, but he's been punished for it and I don't quite understand what makes playing sports different from any other job.

If the braves want to cut him, that's cool. If they want to play him to try and salvage value that's also all right with me.

[zbhargrove]

If he lights in up in the minors, I think he'll be given another shot. If he lights it up in the minors, though... also means he may build some trade value back.

[GovClintonTyree]

I honestly hope he sucks just as much as he did before, because I'm confident I can never celebrate any achievement of his. I don't think he has to lose his job, but I definitely can't cheer for him.

Hey, are any of you Nancies SEC football fans?

[striker42]

According to the Twitters, Olivera was playing winter ball in Puerto Rico and quit his winter ball team after becoming frustrated that no MLB teams had made him an offer. He was hitting a blazing .250 with an impressive 1 HR and a staggering 14 RBIs in 33 games.

This guy is a child.

[msstate7]

According to the Twitters, Olivera was playing winter ball in Puerto Rico and quit his winter ball team after becoming frustrated that no MLB teams had made him an offer. He was hitting a blazing .250 with an impressive 1 HR and a staggering 14 RBIs in 33 games.

This guy is a child.

How in the world did this dude get such a nice contract in the first place?

[Horsehide Harry]

How in the world did this dude get such a nice contract in the first place?

Cuban-mania

MLB was like a kid with it's nose pressed against the show window of a closed candy store. When the doors finally opened, the kids ran in and started shoving whatever they could lay their hands on right into their mouths. Turns out, some of the candy that looked appealing was rotten.

[Russ2dollas]

Lots of scouts were drooling over this guy.

Went down and saw him in person.

Good question for many scouts for many teams....what did you see? What did you miss?

[striker42]

Lots of scouts were drooling over this guy.

Went down and saw him in person.

Good question for many scouts for many teams....what did you see? What did you miss?

Yep. If I'm Coppy, I want to know exactly where the process broke down. I suspect that the problem was so many teams started off by watching old video of the guy. He hadn't actually played in several years so they were looking at video of a 27 year old Olivera. They then went and watched him perform under very, very controlled circumstances designed to make him look good. Instead of looking at this with a skeptical eye, they took his performance as proof that he's the same player he was when he was 27.

I could be entirely wrong but that's my guess of how it went down.

[Knucksie]

Remember there wasn't a total cloak of mystery surrounding Cuban players, despite the embargo. MLB teams had access to reports and data compiled from other Latin-based scouts. It seems rather improbable that the contract was offered by the Dodgers simply from old clips.

[The Chosen One]

Remember Freeman went on rehab assignment and watched Olivera take BP. Said he was the real deal and the sound off his bat was different. Lmao.

[striker42]

Remember there wasn't a total cloak of mystery surrounding Cuban players, despite the embargo. MLB teams had access to reports and data compiled from other Latin-based scouts. It seems rather improbable that the contract was offered by the Dodgers simply from old clips.

This would normally be true, but Olivera played all of 73 games from ages 27-29. He missed two years all together. So there wasn't much recent info on Olivera. The guy teams were going to get was going to be on the wrong side of 30 while the guy they knew from reputation was much younger.