Atlanta Braves

At first glance, it seemed like a curious move for a rebuilding team to make. As happy as the Braves were to rid themselves of Hector Olivera, the return when they traded Olivera to the San Diego Padres was Matt Kemp, an overpaid 31-year-old outfielder.

The Braves insist it makes sense, in part because the offset in salaries and the cash in the deal means Kemp will cost them only about $8.5 million extra a season. They also pointed to this winter’s week free agent class, contending the Kemp acquisition is the start of building a more competitive team to play in their new ballpark next spring.

“We look at this really as probably the first piece as far as what we’re going to do this winter,” vice president of baseball operations

John Hart said. “We realize that as much as we’ve worked to build this farm system, a lot of these young players are just that — young. We don’t have that wave (of prospects) that’s waiting right on the doorstep.”

Kemp hit 23 home runs in 100 games for the Padres this season. At the time of the trade, the entire Braves team had 64 home runs.

The Braves got Olivera as part of last July’s monster threeway trade with the Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers. He played 30 games for them, had a .674 on-base plus slugging (OPS) and was suspended for 82 games for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.