Free agent Cuban third baseman Hector Olivera is creating a decent stir and thought to be on the radar of the Dodgers, Braves, Padres, Giants and Marlins, according to people involved in the talks.
Ben Badler of Baseball America named most of these teams as possibilities a few days ago. Badler suggest the Braves are among the favorites while Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com said the Braves are having "ongoing" talks on Olivera, who is seen as a strong and accomplished hitter. The Braves, in a bit of a rebuild, are known to like him very much.
One scout suggested he's better than Chase Headley, who received $52 million over four years from the Yankees, who perhaps wanted to act quickly and were content with Headley's performance in the second half last year.
The one thing that could slightly limit the dollars are rumors suggesting he may have an issue with the UCL on his throwing arm, though that hasn't been confirmed, and one scout who saw him recently said he appears to be throwing fine. Those rumors may emanate from the fact he played some second base and did some DHing in Cuban recently.
The Dodgers have been tied to Olivera for quite awhile, but there's a positional question there, as they have third baseman Juan Uribe and second baseman Howie Kendrick under contract for another year.
The Marlins have revamped their roster considerably this winter but may be hard-pressed to compete financially with the other interested teams.
Ben Badler of Baseball America named most of these teams as possibilities a few days ago. Badler suggest the Braves are among the favorites while Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com said the Braves are having "ongoing" talks on Olivera, who is seen as a strong and accomplished hitter. The Braves, in a bit of a rebuild, are known to like him very much.
One scout suggested he's better than Chase Headley, who received $52 million over four years from the Yankees, who perhaps wanted to act quickly and were content with Headley's performance in the second half last year.
The one thing that could slightly limit the dollars are rumors suggesting he may have an issue with the UCL on his throwing arm, though that hasn't been confirmed, and one scout who saw him recently said he appears to be throwing fine. Those rumors may emanate from the fact he played some second base and did some DHing in Cuban recently.
The Dodgers have been tied to Olivera for quite awhile, but there's a positional question there, as they have third baseman Juan Uribe and second baseman Howie Kendrick under contract for another year.
The Marlins have revamped their roster considerably this winter but may be hard-pressed to compete financially with the other interested teams.
A-Rod went deep on Wednesday afternoon. (USATSI)By the way, coming into Wednesday's game, A-Rod was 4 for 9 (.444) with a double this spring.
