Hector Olivera signs with the Dodgers

dak said:
Thanks for posting this. Guy looks huge for a 2B. Considering he turns 30 in April and has injury concerns, I could see him signing a shorter term deal than most Cubans.
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Sure, my pleasure. I agree he is big for second and there are questions about him sticking there. I see him more as a third baseman that has played mostly second thus far. But is more likely to play third in the Majors unless he signs with a team that only has an opening at second. Further, I see the Giants probably going as hard for him as anyone. But IMO he makes as much sense for us as he does them and anyone else. So I hope we sign him because I liked what I saw of him in the past (I watched him in the 2009 WBC). I also like that he is a right handed hitter too. But that isn't as important as what kind of hitter he is overall, etc. And I do believe he'll sign a shorter deal due to his age.
 
Who really cares? We sign this person and maybe we win two more games. We aren't sniffing the playoffs for a long time no matter what.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
Who really cares? We sign this person and maybe we win two more games. We aren't sniffing the playoffs for a long time no matter what.
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I care obviously, I'll take my chances any day with an infield of Freeman, Peraza, Simmons and Olivera over Freeman, Callaspo, Simmons and CJ. I am not saying that fixes the concerns with our manager, the outfield nor catcher but it's a good start. A few moves like this and elsewhere and we could contend again soon once Fredi is gone (hopefully as soon as his contract runs out after 2015).

PS: I didn't mention our pitching because I see it as our strength now and going forward with our pitching depth in the minors.
 
It's just hard to care. Clearly the ownership and front office don't care about trying to win.
 
Remember the greatest international pitching prospect ever Michael Ynoa. How's he doing? It's ridiculous to commit 80 million up front for this kid. That would have paid for 3-4 years of Heywood.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Remember the greatest international pitching prospect ever Michael Ynoa. How's he doing? It's ridiculous to commit 80 million up front for this kid. That would have paid for 3-4 years of Heywood.
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Well, Ynoa was 16 when he was hyped up and signed... as a pitcher... very raw with just ability and a ton of frame left to fill in... Moncada is a much more polished product having had huge success in Cuba already. The two are not comparable. Not to say Moncada is a slam dunk... but there were a ton more question marks around Ynoa.

Edit: Injuries really derailed Ynoa, also... 16 year old pitchers are just not very easy to project and have a substantially greater injury risk.

I am not contradicting you that its not a big risk... I agree and I still don't think we have a shot at signing him... I just don't feel like its quite the same situation.
 
Braves are likely more apt to buy lots of cheap lotto tickets than fewer high priced/higher payoff ones. Just how it's always been... Just like Julio.

Not saying it's right, but it's the way it's always been.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Remember the greatest international pitching prospect ever Michael Ynoa. How's he doing? It's ridiculous to commit 80 million up front for this kid. That would have paid for 3-4 years of Heywood.
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He's also a pitcher. Positions players come with much less risk. Though your point is still valid, as we still would be committing a good amount of money to a relatively unproven talent.
 
Ben Badler, who has been directly on top of all aspects of this story, has indicated that should MLB end its unilateral policy of requiring that Major League Baseball end its previous policy of requiring a specific license, in addition to OFAC’s license, then not only would Moncada be eligible to sign, but second basemen Andy Ibanez and Hector Olivera would also be able to sign immediately.
 
Sounds like OFAC sent a letter to Moncada's agent to reassert that they are not preventing him from signing. The ball is still in MLB's court.

The more interesting part of the article to me is at the bottom, where McDaniel offers the first informed guess I've seen on the contract it will take so sign Olivera. If numbers below are true, I'm not sure I want the Braves to win the bidding.

"Olivera will turn 30 years old in April and has had some injury issues that MLB teams will need to sort out, but he looked good in a recent open workout and will continue working out for teams in the Dominican Republic. It’s still too early to know where the bidding will land on him, but he’s seen as a potential Opening Day MLB second baseman if things check out health-wise and further workouts go well, with optimistic estimates having his value on a multi-year MLB deal in the $20-40 million dollar range."

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ofac-clarifies-stance-mlb-is-only-hurdle-for-cubans/
 
Was following your thoughts until the Havana spring training idea.

1.) It's not like with the fall of the embargo that Cubans are suddenly going to be flush with cash and be this huge, untapped potential market of free-spending Braves fans.

2.) Some other team might consider it, but puddle jump plane rides to other Grapefruit League sites for exhibition games really isn't practical. It's why you don't see team camping out in San Juan, PR (well, except for Los Expos).
 
People really thought we were signing this guy? People still think we might sign him?

Weird....
 
Looks like the Braves are very serious about Olivera. I'd be surprised if they don't make him an offer at this point (once MLB allows).

"Today the Braves had a private workout for Olivera in the Dominican Republic. Several top Braves officials were in attendance, including manager Fredi Gonzalez and assistant general manager John Coppolella. Special assistants Gordon Blakeley and Roy Clark, two of the organization’s top scouts, were also there to watch Olivera."
. . .
"The Braves also have recent history signing a player from Olivera’s camp, since they were also the ones who handled Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano."
. . .
"Olivera is scheduled to have another open showcase on Feb. 11. With the annual Major League Baseball international showcase for top July 2 prospects scheduled for Feb. 9-10 in the Dominican Republic, there should be plenty of top decision-makers in town to see him there."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/hector-olivera-works-top-braves-officials/
 
dak said:
Looks like the Braves are very serious about Olivera. I'd be surprised if they don't make him an offer at this point (once MLB allows).

"Today the Braves had a private workout for Olivera in the Dominican Republic. Several top Braves officials were in attendance, including manager Fredi Gonzalez and assistant general manager John Coppolella. Special assistants Gordon Blakeley and Roy Clark, two of the organization’s top scouts, were also there to watch Olivera."
. . .
"The Braves also have recent history signing a player from Olivera’s camp, since they were also the ones who handled Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano."
. . .
"Olivera is scheduled to have another open showcase on Feb. 11. With the annual Major League Baseball international showcase for top July 2 prospects scheduled for Feb. 9-10 in the Dominican Republic, there should be plenty of top decision-makers in town to see him there."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/hector-olivera-works-top-braves-officials/
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This is good news because as I told you before Olivera makes as much sense for us as any team. I hope we can win the bidding on him because I like what I've seen of him in the past. I watched him a bit in the WBC but that was years ago now and before his blood clot health issue. He looked good in that showcase video to me although it was rather short.
 
[video=vimeo;117914828]http://vimeo.com/117914828[/video]

Preface: The music is horrible.

Edit: I see 76' already posted this, but here's the embed.
 
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