PHILADELPHIA — The Atlanta Braves wanted Cuban infielder Hector Olivera earlier this season. They finally have him.
The Braves acquired Olivera from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team, 13-player deal consummated Thursday, the day before major league baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline. Los Angeles signed him to a six-year, $62 million free agent contract in May, outbidding Atlanta, among others.
“We really tried to sign the guy, and the Dodgers came in and blew us out of the water financially,” Braves general manager John Hart said. “We like the player, we like the bat, we like the makeup. This is a guy we felt was major-league-ready and can come in and hit somewhere in the middle of the order.”
In 19 minor league games this season, Olivera is hitting .348 with a .392 on-base percentage, a .493 slugging percentage, two homers and seven RBIs.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez scouted Olivera in the Dominican Republic over the winter and also had a chance to speak with him.
“He passed all the tests, as far as makeup and character,” Gonzalez said, adding that Olivera texted him after Braves outfielder Adonis Garcia, with whom Olivera once played in Cuba, homered in recent games against the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles.
Olivera is 30, but Hart nonetheless believes he is the prime of his career. The GM also said Olivera can be “solid average-to-plus” guy at third base — his best position — and likened him to such retired third basemen as Scott Rolen, Travis Fryman and Matt Williams.
Nor are the Braves concerned that Olivera has been out with a hamstring pull in recent weeks, as he is expected back soon.
“We look at our club and we look at this as the first building block to building the team,” Hart said. “He can play third, he can play second, he can play left, but we just like the bat and we felt this was going to be a good piece.”
