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Hector Olivera: Cornerstone of the Re-Tooling Braves?

By Jonathan Savitske

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Hector Olivera was acquired by the Atlanta Braves this past Thursday in a 3 team trade between the Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Miami Marlins.

The Atlanta Braves sent pitchers Alex Wood, Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan, in addition to top prospect Jose Peraza to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitchers Paco Rodriquez, Zachary Bird. The centerpiece of the deal for the Braves was the acquisition of Cuban third-baseman Hector Olivera.

-= Related: Atlanta Braves Complete 3 Team Trade with Dodgers, Marlins =-

This past offseason, five teams jockeyed for the third-baseman’s services, with the Atlanta Braves competing against organizations such as the San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and the LA Dodgers. The Braves offered Hector Olivera a 5 year, $40 million deal, but were ultimately outbid by the Dodgers and their 5 year, $62.5 million deal.

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The spend-happy Dodgers signed Hector Olivera with no place to play him, making him expendable in last week’s trade to obtain pitching depth from the Marlins and the Braves. The Braves have coveted Olivera since the winter, and finally were able to secure his services.

Olivera is a 30-year-old infielder who has yet to play a game in the majors and projects to be a high average contact hitter with considerable power. Scouts speculate that he could consistently hit above .300 and notch 20-25 homers a year and have compared him to former MLB third-baseman Scott Rolen. Though Olivera’s skill-set may sound as if it will align with John Hart‘s new vision for the re-tooling Braves, the acquisition of Olivera comes with significant risk.

“Only time will tell if Hector Olivera can remain healthy to make a consistent impact on the Braves offense…”

First of all, Hector Olivera has struggled with injuries for most of his professional career in Cuba, and may even have to receive Tommy John surgery for an injured right elbow in the near future. By trading away young players with significant upside in the form of Alex Wood and Jose Peraza, the Braves have taken a risk on a player on the wrong side of 30 who is currently dealing with potentially serious injuries.

Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart stated that Hector Olivera represents the first building block of the re-tooled Braves offense. Hart’s focus up until this point has been to infuse the organization with young pitching, paying little attention to a lack of offense in the minor league system. Olivera is a bat that the Braves need, but he must remain healthy in order to make an impact.

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So far this season in 19 minor league games in the Dodgers’ system, Olivera has hit .348 with 2 home-runs and a .895 OPS. These are excellent numbers that would indicate that Hector Olivera is already ready for major league action. He is currently on the Disabled List after being assigned to AAA Gwinnett.

There is reason to believe that Hector Olivera will join the Atlanta Braves next week after he is activated from the Disabled List. He will most likely provide protection for Freddie Freeman in the Braves’ batting order.

No matter how you feel about the trade that sent Alex Wood and Jose Peraza to the Dodgers last week, John Hart and the Atlanta Braves had to address a severe lack of offense — and did so with the addition of Hector Olivera. The front-office seems to believe that he is potentially cornerstone of these re-tooled Braves. Only time will tell if Hector Olivera can remain healthy to make a consistent impact on the Braves offense for the years to come.

Next: Atlanta Braves: 5 Key Veterans John Hart Didn't Move

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