The mystery has finally been solved. The winner of the Hector Olivera sweepstakes is the Los Angeles Dodgers. They added Olivera to their system on a six year, $62.5-million deal.
Olivera is the top infield prospect coming out of Cuba and was the highest ranked international free agent remaining on the board. We chronicled the bizarre weeks Olivera had when he was finally granted free agency by Major League Baseball three weeks ago. Injury allegations, new agents and private workouts put Olivera in a whirlwind of questions.
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The Dodgers ended those question marks yesterday. They did in fact find out that Olivera, as reported by Yahoo Sports three weeks ago and then vehemently denied by his camp, does have a slight tear in his UCL. He will not forego Tommy John surgery and will play through the injury, which allowed the Dodgers to restructure his contract. Should Olivera decide surgery is the right course of action, the Dodgers get a seventh year at just $1 million.
This is worrisome as Olivera, who will be 30 years old this season, has a lingering history of injuries. A blood clot derailed the second baseman two years ago, and once he was able to return an entire season later, he was only able to DH. He did not play last season after defecting so, aside from private workouts, little is known on how Olivera’s game will translate to the big leagues.
The Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres were two of the teams making a bigger push on Olivera, but it was the Dodgers’ daily growing bankroll that won out and made the signing. $62.5-million seems like a lot for a possibly diminishing prospect. Was he worth that much?
The Dodgers were actually the best landing spot for Olivera, so the signing does make sense. Nearing 30, the time to act on Olivera is now. Despite being a second baseman by nature, Olivera can most likely transition to any skill position in the infield.
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The Dodgers infield, to put it nicely, is old. Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins and Juan Uribe are all on the wrong side of 30 with Rollins and Uribe being on the wrong side of 35. All three are free agents at season’s end, so Olivera could have the opportunity to move into the lineup pretty quickly.
Uribe had somewhat of a rebirth last season, albeit in limited (only 386 at bats) playing time. Still, closing in on 37 years of age, the position could be Olivera’s for the taking this season. In fact, the Dodgers may be closer to a Olivera, Corey Seager and fellow Cuban signee Alex Guerrero infield than they think.
Olivera will start the season in the minors, but you can expect he will be on the fast track to the big leagues. As long as the UCL holds up, expect to see Olivera with the Dodgers at the first sign of an opening. With an aging and somewhat injury prone left side of the infield, it shouldn’t be long until he makes his 2015 debut.