Do the Atlanta Braves Want to Trade Olivera? Here’s one Idea that Could Work
From possible ‘big bat’ to bearer of instant ignominy, Olivera will be a very tough sell for Atlanta…unless…
When you trying to move the unmovable, the difficultly comes in trying to make your offers more attractive to others than what they already have sitting in front of them.
When Atlanta traded Melvin Upton, Jr. to the Padres, the ‘carrot’ was clearly their chance to land Craig Kimbrel. Curiously enough, Upton has been a little bit better since then, Kimbrel perhaps a little worse.
When Chris Johnson was traded to the Indians, the Braves took back Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher. The deal was effectively a wash in terms of cash, but Atlanta’s angle was to eliminate that ‘dead money’ a year earlier than they would have done otherwise… with an outside chance at improving on that (which did not ultimately come to pass).
Hector Olivera is still being paid by the Braves while this “Administrative Leave” persists and the investigation into his behavior on the night of April 12th-13th continues. The deafening silence from the Braves on this topic, coupled with reported attempts to trade him, lead one to speculate that the Braves have pre-determined the outcome… and decided to try and cut their losses.
The Problem With the Money
The Braves have indeed already dumped a large pile of cash into a hole this season:
- Bourn: $14,000,000
- Swisher: $15,000,000
- Cameron Maybin: $2,500,000 as part of trade deal with Tigers
- Emilio Bonifacio: $1.250,000 despite re-signing a minor league deal
- Andrew McKirahan: ML minimum of $507,500 while he rehabs his arm for the year.
That’s not all of it, but it’s the highlights: well over $30,000,000 of dead money in an attempt to get “clean” for 2017 and beyond.
But it is precisely for reasons of that $30 million-plus that they will not be at all eager to simply write off the rest of Olivera’s contract ($32.5 million due from 2016 through 2020… minus probably 60-90 days of suspension pay once the investigation is over). That kind of cash just isn’t laying around.
Next: Just who am I talking about here?