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Say hey, baseball: Don’t forget about Hector Olivera
Friday morning’s baseball includes a look at the non-Moncada Cuban market, James Shields’ possible destinations, and Jonathan Papelbon’s trade status.
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All the attention has been on Yoan Moncada and his free agency, but there is another major Cuban export waiting to sign in MLB, and he’s Hector Olivera. Unlike Moncada, Olivera hasn’t been officially cleared to sign by Baseball, but he’s got everything in order to get to that point and is just playing the waiting game. Once MLB clears him, Olivera will be free to sign with anyone in the game. He has a workout scheduled for Friday and another next Wednesday, and has already put on a show for the Padres, Mariners, Giants, Yankees, and Braves while he waits to become a free agent officially.
Olivera is 10 years older than Moncada, but 29 is still a solid baseball age. There are some health concerns with him, but it’s expected he could play second or third base, and no one is questioning the potential of his bat: Olivera’s average OPS over the last six seasons is 986, and he batted .316/.412/.474 during the 2013-2014 Serie Nacional season. The concerns about his health -- Olivera missed all of the 2012 season with thrombosis in his left biceps -- and his age mean he won’t pull in the same kind of money as recent Cubans Rusney Castillo or Yasmany Tomas, even if he’s potentially a better player than Tomas.
It’s hard to predict when MLB will give him the okay, but given he’s been working out with teams for a while now and should be able to slot right into a big-league lineup if he gets time in spring training to shake the rust off, you can expect him to come to terms quickly once he’s eligible to sign.
- The Padres are the only west coast team linked to James Shields at this point, and that pairs beautifully with his reported desire to play close to his San Diego home. The Padres aren’t the only team in on him, but with what little information is out there, they do seem to be the favorites to land him.
- One reason the Padres might go the Shields’ route is because the Phillies, owners of Cole Hamels, “covet” the Padres’ current best starter, Andrew Cashner.
- Speaking of the Phillies, general manager Ruben Amaro expects Jonathan Papelbon will still be his closer when spring training begins. That doesn’t mean he’s staying put forever, but is probably an indication of how slowly any trade negotiations are coming along.
- Victor Martinez tore his meniscus in the same knee that suffered a major injury a couple years back. He could be back by the start of the season, but that could also be optimism speaking.
- Martinez’s injury has Mariners’ fans thinking that maybe they’re not so unlucky after all: if you’ll recall, the Mariners were all-in on V-Mart until he re-signed with Detroit this winter, and this just a couple of years after missing out on Josh Hamilton’s free agency.
- Justin Masterson’s 2014 started with pain during bullpen sessions, but 2015 is off to a healthier, less sore start.
- Madison Bumgarner threw roughly 900 innings in 2014, give or take. Is his workload a concern for 2015, or is he just going to power through like some kind of backwoods robot?
- Wade Davis’ 2014 was obviously special without any kind of context attached to it, but once you dig deeper, it turns out he was even better than thought.
- Should the Yankees be making a late push to shore up their rotation with Shields? It’s not exactly close to San Diego, but it’s also clear he’s not going to sign for as much as he initially believed.
- Matt Harvey missed all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but was one of the most exciting and productive pitchers in baseball before that. What should we be expecting from his return campaign?
- If you’re in need of some baseball while you wait for spring training to start, the Australian Baseball League championship starts Friday.
- The Red Sox didn’t sign an ace this winter, but they made a number of trades and signings to rebuild their rotation. Now, one of those pieces had his arbitration years and a season of free agency bought out with an extension.
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