Hector Olivera “considering several offers in four- to six-year range,” may sign this week

By Drew SilvaMar 11, 2015, 8:31 PM EDT
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The latest from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com …

Cuban second baseman Hector Olivera is considering several offers in the four- to six-year range, and the infielder could come to terms with a team this week, according to industry sources.

The Dodgers, Braves, Marlins, Padres, A’s and Giants have all shown a strong interest in signing the 29-year-old, sources said.

The expectation is Olivera will get around $50 million. Initial reports had him seeking more than $70 million, but we didn’t hear much of that after he switched agents last week, from Rudy Santin and Manny Paula to Greg Genske of the Legacy Sports Agency.

Olivera was a .323/.407/.505 hitter in 10 seasons with Asvispas de Santiago of Cuba’s Serie Nacional. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports heard a week ago that there was serious concern from some teams about the structure of Olivera’s throwing-arm elbow, but multiple sources have since refuted that report.

Max Scherzer, with broken nose, strikes out 10 Phillies over seven shutout innings

Patrick Smith/Getty Images
By Bill BaerJun 19, 2019, 10:10 PM EDT
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Nationals starter Max Scherzer bunted a ball into his face during batting practice on Tuesday, breaking his nose in the process. He ended up with a gnarly looking shiner around his right eye, making him appear a bit like Terminator. Scherzer still took the ball to start the second game of Wednesday night’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Despite the injury, Scherzer was incredibly effective, limiting the Phillies to four hits and two walks across seven shutout innings, striking out 10 batters in the process. He might even have had some extra adrenaline going, as he averaged 96.2 MPH on his fastball, his highest average fastball velocity in a game since September 2012, per MLB.com’s Jamal Collier. The Nationals provided Scherzer with just one run of support, coming on a Brian Dozier solo home run off of Jake Arrieta in the second inning, but it was enough.

Wander Suero worked a scoreless top of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts. Victor Robles added a solo homer off of Pat Neshek in the bottom half. Closer Sean Doolittle took over in the ninth, working a 1-2-3 frame to give the Nats their 2-0 victory.

Over his last six starts, Scherzer now has a 0.88 ERA with a 59/8 K/BB ratio across 41 innings. He has gone six innings, struck out at least nine batters, and held the opposition to two or fewer runs in each of those six starts.