On Tuesday afternoon the Dodgers officially announced the signing of 30-year-old Cuban infielder Hector Olivera to a six-year / $62.5 million contract – a deal that had been in the works since spring training but had been on hold while Olivera was awaiting a visa to work in the United States. Later that evening, both Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Olivera himself fielded question from the media (via telephonic press conferences) about the much anticipated signing.

“We’re going to send him to Arizona to get in game shape and work out for a few days and then reassess from there,” said Friedman. “Our guess is then send him out to play a few games in a spring-training-like setting to get him built up and assess from there.”

Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman calls Hector Olivera “an impact player.”
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Friedman added that the most likely destination for Olivera – at least initially – will be to their Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, this perhaps to give the nearby Dodgers brass an opportunity to see their new star infielder firsthand before sending him to Oklahoma City. In fact, Friedman even said as much.

“We’ll send him to Rancho for a few games to treat that a little bit like spring training and then get him to Oklahoma City and play there for a little while, and assess from that point,” Friedman added.

Olivera, who spent his entire 10-year professional career as a second baseman for Santiago de Cuba of the Cuban National Series, said (through an interpreter) that there were five MLB teams actively pursuing him.

“There were five teams that were interested in me – Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta and Miami – but in the end I decided to sign with the Dodgers,” Olivera said. “I knew that it was a great organization.”

When asked why he chose the Dodgers over the other interested teams, his answer came as no surprise.

“First of all, there are Cubans playing on this team and I know that I can do a great job for this organization, it’s a great organization,” Olivera answered. “Most of all, there are Cubans that I’ll play with on this team.”

Asked if his style of play was anything like the “Wild Horse” (as Vin Scully calls it) style of play of Yasiel Puig, Olivera was rather specific in his answer.

“I play hard but relaxed,” Olivera said.

Spending more than $60 million for a 30-year-old untested player rumored to have a potentially serious elbow problem is an enormous risk. When pressed about this by L.A. Times Dodgers beat reporter Dylan Hernandez, Friedman was curt and very direct.

“Market, Dylan.”

As for that rumored serious elbow problem, Olivera was also rather direct.

“I don’t know where that rumor came from. I know that there was a bit of inflammation in my arm,” Olivera said. “I did a lot of try-outs and people know that I played well, but it was just fatigue in the muscle and I don’t think there was any serious problem. I don’t know where that rumor started.”

Olivera has no idea where rumors that he has a serious elbow injury started but calls them false.
(Photo credit – Kevork Djansezian)

As for Friedman, he, too, is confident that Olivera is perfectly healthy and fit for play on the major league level.

“He came through the medical exam with Dr. ElAttrache really well,” said Friedman. “We feel good about where he is. Medically we did a very thorough medical review and a very thorough medical process and feel good about where he is right now.

“He really takes care of himself extremely well,” added Friedman. “We had him at our academy in the Dominican for about the last month and have had a chance to have our guys spend time with him and be around him, and watch the body and see how it bounces back day after day. Our guys feel really good about him healthwise.”

The burning question, of course, is where do the Dodgers see Olivera fitting into their defense?

“I don’t know,” said Friedman. “Versatility on the defense side. He’ll tell you that he’s most comfortable at second but he’s had no problems moving around the infield in Cuba. At our academy he did a lot of work at second and third and the reports on both were good.”

Although Friedman’s answer was more of a non-answer, it’s hard to believe that Olivera will supplant veteran second baseman Howie Kendrick, who is off to a great start offensively for the Dodgers and playing exceptionally well defensively at his natural second base position. And with 36-year-old Juan Uribe now more or less reduced to a back-up role at third base with fellow Cuban Alex Guerrero and utility infielder Justin Turner splitting time filling in at third base, this would be the most likely landing spot for Olivera on an everyday basis. That being said, Kendrick was signed for only this season by the Dodgers, who are/were undoubtedly looking for a long-term solution at second base. And for $62.5 million, it is quite possible that they have found it.