Buck or Olivo?

[JohnBriggs12]

Speculation is that Royals could non-tender John Buck and that Miguel Olivo will opt for FA rather than exercise his $3.3 million mutual option.

 

Now I know you OBP freaks would go nuts if the Brewers signed Olivo but personally I wouldn't mind a guy in the 7 hole in the lineup who's averaged 17 HR and 56 RBI the last 4 years. He's a lot like Bengie Molina, except 4 years younger. With the 8th and 9th hitters behind him, I'm looking for RBI's not BB.

 

Buck is another guy who's not great but has some pop in his bat (career .404 SP).

[Teatoe993]

I'd love to bring Olivo in. His bat is pretty underrated for a catcher. He's 31 now so he still probably has a couple decent years left in him. I'd be on board for a 2-3 year deal at 4-5 million per. How's his defense?

[yoshii8]

I would be ok w/ bringing in Olivo on a one year deal, but I wouldn't pay him 4-5 million on a muliyear deal w/ Lucroy and Salome coming up. I think I'd rather just see Salome and Lucroy fight it out for the starting job in spring training, and have the other one sent to AAA. Then have either Mike Rivera, or a Hank Blanco type back up brought in.

[Never Outhustled]

Olivio and Buck both have nice power, but will require multi-year deals, and some money that is earmarked for pitching.

 

I'd rather sign Henry Blanco for about $1 million. Blanco put up a 703 OPS this year. Thats the 3rd time in 4 years he's been over 700, the only year he wasn't was in 2007, when he got just 54 ABs because of injury. His offense, because of greater OBA, is very close to Buck and Oliva, and he is far superior defensively. He's a perfect fit for us, and would likely jump at a chance to get regular playing time. It wouldn't shock me to see him hit even better as a regular.

[JohnBriggs12]

Buck wouldn't require a multi year deal. He backed up Olivo the past 2 years and would be more of a guy who'd split time with Rivera. Olivo won't break the bank either. An upgrade in power from the catching position would make Cameron less critical too. That's where the real savings for a starter is anyway.

 

The fact that Salome wasn't on September roster and Lucroy wasn't added either tells me they want both to spend more time developing. Thrusting either one into essentially the number one job appears to be a year away.

 

Blanco is the age (38) where he's not anything more than a backup. He can't hold up as a first string guy. Nice backup though.

[dadofandrew]

Salome was injured, or he'd have been up.