Hector Olivera signs with the Dodgers

Well,no. That's not what's clearly happening.

Last year was a major down year offensively, though it's not likely to continue.

ANd things will switch. Here's the way things work in general in baseball.

There's too much hitting (expansion era, late 90s/early 2000s, etc.) let's recruit pitchers. You CF, you have a strong arm your'e moving to pitcher so you can get drafted. When pitching is up (80s being a great example) you care about recruiting hitters. It's the ebb and flow of things.
 
zitothebrave said:
Well,no. That's not what's clearly happening.

Last year was a major down year offensively, though it's not likely to continue.

ANd things will switch. Here's the way things work in general in baseball.

There's too much hitting (expansion era, late 90s/early 2000s, etc.) let's recruit pitchers. You CF, you have a strong arm your'e moving to pitcher so you can get drafted. When pitching is up (80s being a great example) you care about recruiting hitters. It's the ebb and flow of things.
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Yeah, thats the reason that offense went up after the 80's. I can't believe you believe some of the things you write sometimes.
 
thethe said:
Yeah, thats the reason that offense went up after the 80's. I can't believe you believe some of the things you write sometimes.
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You don't think pitchers were also juicing? Juicing only adds power, doesn't improve hand eye, strikezone recognition, etc. We saw some of the best pitchers ever in the roid era, the issue was depth.
 
zitothebrave said:
You don't think pitchers were also juicing? Juicing only adds power, doesn't improve hand eye, strikezone recognition, etc. We saw some of the best pitchers ever in the roid era, the issue was depth.
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When your bat speed increases it absolutely gives you more time to determine if the pitch will be a ball or a strike.

I'm just not even sure what to say to this point. I see no point in arguing about this because we are so far off on whta is right or not.
 
thethe said:
When your bat speed increases it absolutely gives you more time to determine if the pitch will be a ball or a strike.

I'm just not even sure what to say to this point. I see no point in arguing about this because we are so far off on whta is right or not.
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It's minimal. You haveunder a second to react to a major league fastball (slowest fastball is about 80 MPH or 118 FPS, which you have under 60 feet). Sure he may have a few extra hundredths of a second, if that (don'[t feel like doing the calculations) but the advantage to added bat speed is the extra power.
 
Dylan Hernandez with some news on the timing of a Moncada signing. I wonder if Olivera will wait until after Moncada signs to maximize his market. That may potentially push his signing date past the start of Spring Training for position players.

"Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada is expecting to field contract offers over the next two weeks and could sign with a team soon after, his agent said Tuesday."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodge...-moncada-nearing-decision-20150210-story.html
 
dak said:
Dylan Hernandez with some news on the timing of a Moncada signing. I wonder if Olivera will wait until after Moncada signs to maximize his market. That may potentially push his signing date past the start of Spring Training for position players.

"Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada is expecting to field contract offers over the next two weeks and could sign with a team soon after, his agent said Tuesday."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodge...-moncada-nearing-decision-20150210-story.html
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Hopefully our recent success with his agency helps us sign him. But if it all comes down to money and the Dodgers offer more, then I'd expect he'll be going there. However, given what Olivera is expected to get max in AAV and years there is a chance we could make a similar bid if we want him badly enough. Plus I would expect that we could sell more playing time too since teams like the Dodgers are more set barring a trade. That isn't so with us because here he would have a shot to play second, third and even some left field down the road.
 
Braves1976 said:
Hopefully our recent success with his agency helps us sign him. But if it all comes down to money and the Dodgers offer more, then I'd expect he'll be going there. However, given what Olivera is expected to get max in AAV and years there is a chance we could make a similar bid if we want him badly enough. Plus I would expect that we could sell more playing time too since teams like the Dodgers are more set barring a trade. That isn't so with us because here he would have a shot to play second, third and even some left field down the road.
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Maybe not now but Kendrick/Rollins are FA's after this year, and they could go with an infield of AGon, ? (not sure who their 2B is), Moncada, Olivera for the future.
 
Heyward said:
Maybe not now but Kendrick/Rollins are FA's after this year, and they could go with an infield of AGon, ? (not sure who their 2B is), Moncada, Olivera for the future.
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I was only speaking about now as in this year, that is why I said barring a trade. Which is possible since the Dodgers have a couple free agents after this year at positions Olivera could play. But for this year barring a trade we'd make more sense for Olivera than the Dodgers.
 
Updates on Hector Olivera's final showcase game today. I can't believe they're playing this early in the morning! Dodgers seem to be all over him. I feel like we can offer him more at bats (in the middle of the order no less) in a better hitting environment though.

@BenBadler
Nice bat speed and power display from Hector Olivera in BP. Went deep to RF, dead CF and hit a bunch of balls out to his pull side.

@BenBadler
First two at-bats for Hector Olivera: HBP then ropes a line-drive double to left field. Andrew Friedman, Josh Byrnes both here from Dodgers.

@BenBadler
Opposite field single for Hector Olivera, who's reached base in all three PAs so far today.
 
Again, its just not right that these big market teams can get all this top end talent just by flexing their wallets.
 
MLBTR: "Hector Olivera drew hundreds of scouts to his final public showcase, as Ben Badler of Baseball America reports on Twitter, and seemingly did not disappoint. Per Badler, the Dodgers, Giants, Athletics, and Padres were well-represented in attendance. You’ll want to read through Badler’s Twitter feed (some earlier portion of which was compiled here by Baseball America) for more information on Olivera’s impressive display as well as some other notes from the international showcase."

No mention of the Braves being well-represented for the second time since the Braves had a private workout with him.
 
One advantage the Braves have over the other teams in serious pursuit of Olivera (all from California) is income tax rate. Looks like the top state income tax rate in GA is 6%, while it's about 12% in CA. When you're talking about a contract that is speculated to land in the $20 - $40 million range, that could factor into his thought process.
 
Ben Badler reports that the Braves' Gordon Blakeley was at Olivera's final showcase today. Badler then goes on to say that he thinks Olivera is better than Yasmany Tomas and Rusney Castillo.

"Major League Baseball’s annual international amateur showcase for the top July 2 players was Monday and Tuesday, so there were already hundreds of scouts in town, including several high-level executives who went to Olivera’s showcase on Wednesday. The team with the most notable presence was the Dodgers, who had president Andrew Friedman and vice president Josh Byrnes in attendance, with Friedman at one point walking down the first-base line to take video of Olivera. Unlike top officials from other clubs at Olivera’s showcase, Friedman and Byrnes were not at MLB’s July 2 showcase.

The Athletics (assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz, special assistant Chris Pittaro), Padres (senior advisor Logan White) and Giants (vice president John Barr, among several others) were the other teams with a notable presence. They have all been linked to Olivera, along with the Braves, who had special assistant Gordon Blakeley in attendance, and the majority of international scouting directors were here as well."

. . .

"Yet, on talent alone, Olivera was a better player than Castillo and Tomas when they were in Cuba. Olivera is 29 while Castillo is 27 and Tomas 24, so that works against him, but Olivera is the same as as most major league free agents. But if I had my choice of one of those three players, assuming the team doctors give him a thumbs up, I would take Olivera over Castillo or Tomas. From talking with several scouts about it, I’m not alone in that opinion, either."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/hector-olivera-shines-final-showcase/
 
dak said:
Ben Badler reports that the Braves' Gordon Blakeley was at Olivera's final showcase today. Badler then goes on to say that he thinks Olivera is better than Yasmany Tomas and Rusney Castillo.

"Major League Baseball’s annual international amateur showcase for the top July 2 players was Monday and Tuesday, so there were already hundreds of scouts in town, including several high-level executives who went to Olivera’s showcase on Wednesday. The team with the most notable presence was the Dodgers, who had president Andrew Friedman and vice president Josh Byrnes in attendance, with Friedman at one point walking down the first-base line to take video of Olivera. Unlike top officials from other clubs at Olivera’s showcase, Friedman and Byrnes were not at MLB’s July 2 showcase.

The Athletics (assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz, special assistant Chris Pittaro), Padres (senior advisor Logan White) and Giants (vice president John Barr, among several others) were the other teams with a notable presence. They have all been linked to Olivera, along with the Braves, who had special assistant Gordon Blakeley in attendance, and the majority of international scouting directors were here as well."

. . .

"Yet, on talent alone, Olivera was a better player than Castillo and Tomas when they were in Cuba. Olivera is 29 while Castillo is 27 and Tomas 24, so that works against him, but Olivera is the same as as most major league free agents. But if I had my choice of one of those three players, assuming the team doctors give him a thumbs up, I would take Olivera over Castillo or Tomas. From talking with several scouts about it, I’m not alone in that opinion, either."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/hector-olivera-shines-final-showcase/
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I agree with Badler but you probably know that already since I told y'all he impressed me very much in the past (WBC). I won't be surprised if someone wants him badly enough to give him at least 40 million over 4 years, 10 mil AAV.

That said, I am really hoping we land him but I expecting us to bid too low to do so.
 
Rosenthal weighs in on the price tag for Moncada. Really makes you appreciate the value of first round picks in the June draft. Moncada's value and talent was recently compared by Fangraphs to Carlos Correa and Corey Seager. The signing bonus for Carlos Correa was $4.8m and the signing bonus for Corey Seager was $2.35m.

@Ken_Rosenthal
One exec expects Moncada to get $40-$50M, meaning total outlay of $80-$100M with 100 percent tax. Whatever the number, expect renewed talk…

@Ken_Rosenthal
…about inequity of Cuban 19-year-old getting that much while draft-eligible 19-year-old cannot due to differences in ways such players sign.
 
It's time for a universal draft. The way things work now makes no sense, and as dak noted, it favors international players over American (and Candian) players.
 
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