Padres News: Kemp For Olivera Deal Complete? Pending Physicals
It is being reported that the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves are nearing a deal in which the Padres would send the slugging outfielder to the Atlanta Braves for Cuban infielder Hector Olivera. The deal is very close and it appears that only the two veteran players are included in the swap. The latest is that the deal is complete and only pending physicals. Both Kemp and Olivera are out of the lineup for their respected teams teams Saturday night.
A.J. Preller is working the phones like a madman and dealing Kemp became a top priority. The team needs to make room for Hunter Renfroe and the time was right that Kemp moves on. The writing was on the wall and the fact the Padres are even considering taking on Olivera with his character issues, speaks volumes. Olivera was suspended 82 games earlier in the year after having a domestic violence issue. He is clearly someone who brings a ton of baggage with him.
Source confirms: #Braves “pretty hot” on Kemp. Asked about Olivera: “No comment.” https://t.co/WZIBbxdwmA
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2016
Kemp is a horrible defender and he is barely drawing any walks, but trading him for a character issue guy who is under contract for the next four seasons is a huge risk. The 31 year old Olivera is only due about $28.5 million over that time which is considerably less than Kemp, but Preller must be careful not to send the wrong message to the fan base. The Padres could pull off the deal with the Braves paying all of Kemp’s salary and then just release Olivera and eat the $28.5 million. Who knows what A.J. has up his sleeve.
UPDATE*** Early indications are the Padres will eat $10-12 million in the deal. With that the Padres would save themselves somewhere between $12-14 million in total. DFA’ing Olivera might be the answer.
Hunter Renfroe must play. That is the key to this whole potential deal. The young man is major league ready and now is the time to see what he has. He will be the first of many home-grown Padres to hit San Diego. It is an exciting time for Padres fans, but bringing in a character issue guy like Olivera might stunt that. Beware A.J…. you are treading on dangerous waters. If the deal does go down, we will have reaction here for you at East Village Times.
If the Braves revisit talks re: Kemp, the Padres would seemingly have to be willing to take Olivera as part of a bad contract swap
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 30, 2016
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
