We’ve picked on the Atlanta Braves just a bit this season, so what’s one more post critical of the team? On Sunday, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that the Braves are shopping outfielder Hector Olivera, acquired last season from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Olivera is currently under MLB-sponsored administrative leave while allegations of domestic violence are being investigated.
Since Olivera’s arrest, Atlanta has tried to trade the 31-year-old outfielder, two sources told Yahoo Sports. Olivera is signed through 2020 for $34.5 million, a hefty sum for a player without even 100 major league at-bats and with an alleged domestic-violence rap. Said one executive whom the Braves queried about any interest in Olivera: “I can’t believe they even asked.”
Yeah, Braves – good luck with that. In 30 career games with the Braves, an admittedly small sample, the 31-year old Olivera is hitting .245/.296/.378 with just two home runs. His contract situation is interesting – the Dodgers are covering all of his $28 million signing bonus, while the Braves are paying him $32.5 million in salary from 2016 to 2020.
If the Braves were somehow able to trade him, they’d likely need to eat a large portion of that remaining $32.5 million. That’s a hefty amount of money for a team to take on, especially considering Olivera’s struggles in the majors so far.
There is some precedent for a player facing a domestic violence suspension getting traded – the Reds dealt Aroldis Chapman to the Yankees this winter a couple of months before MLB slapped Chapman with a 30-game suspension. However, Chapman and Olivera couldn’t be more different – Chapman is younger, cheaper, and a better player than Olivera.
A better comparison for Olivera might be Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes, also under administrative leave while his domestic violence situation is investigated. Reyes is still owed $48 million by the Rockies, and his skills are declining. The emergence of Trevor Story this year has pretty much ended the future of Reyes in Colorado, but the team hasn’t been able (or hasn’t tried) to move him since the allegations brought against him became public.
If there’s one silver living from the disastrous-looking Olivera trade for the Braves, it’s this – starting pitcher Alex Wood, one of the players sent to the Dodgers last July for Olivera, has a 4.73 ERA with just 61 strikeouts and 33 walks in 91 1/3 innings since the deal. Yeah, the Braves took on a ton of salary in Olivera…but they’re not watching one of their former players thrive.
