Braves May Not Sign Olivera: 5 Reasons This is Good

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Atlanta Braves third baseman

Chris Johnson

(23) swings at a pitch during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Reason 5: Chris Johnson

First off, I’m not at all saying that I prefer Johnson over Olivera at third base… or anywhere else on the diamond. But we’re pretty well stuck with him (Frank Wren legacy) for a while – and that fact complicates matters.

More from Tomahawk Take

It seems

from reports this morning

that

Alberto Callaspo

‘s contract is guaranteed (

no, we’re still not entirely sure about that

, but we’ll roll with it anyway), and therefore it could be a $3 million loss if he’s cut this Spring – which likely would be done if Hector Olivera signs with Atlanta. Frankly, if that ends up being the worst move that

John Hart

has done this off-season, then I’m perfectly fine with that.

But that’s $3 million lost against the budget… and now a wasted roster position as things stand today.

But now, how do you handle CJ?

Meanwhile, Chris Johnson is set up to take home $6m/$7.5m/$9m over the next three years: $23.5 million. I had previously proposed a contract dump deal in which Johnson is sent somewhere else while Atlanta picks up around 2/3rds of the freight charges associated with that contract.

Unfortunately, that’s still a $15 million hit to the budget – in 2015 – to a club that just took a write-off of $20 million for Dan Uggla last year. So that would be a difficult trade to get done… and Johnson is not going to be released, either.

Meanwhile, Johnson is struggling this Spring: the new batting hand position isn’t doing anything for him yet, and not he’s looking more like the aberration of being a .263 hitter (2014) instead of the hitter that took a batting title chase down to the last week (.321) in 2013.

So he would be even harder to move.

If Olivera were to sign with Atlanta, there are a couple of options available to him for a playing position: second base and third base. [Some have suggested the outfield… but that’s really not what you’d pay him to do].

So does CJ play 3rd while Olivera and Peterson share second? Not likely. Does Olivera play second while Peterson and CJ share third? Perhaps – though Peterson is looking like he should be an everyday player out there: solid defense, solid hitting, on-base skills, and will steal bases for you, too.

Will Johnson rebound? Unclear. But his $23 million due is already spent in reality, and without a clear resolution to the positional complications, it’s at least a better use of money not to throw another $40 million at the problem (Olivera) unless you’re comfortable with a $23 million bench player in Johnson. Performance-wise, it’s an okay idea… but financially, it’s a disaster.

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