Atlanta Braves acquire backup catcher and a bench bat
By Fred Owens
The Atlanta Braves finally added a lefty bench bat today and grabbed another catcher for the roster today.
This afternoon Jon Morosi tweeted that the Atlanta Braves acquired catcher Rene Rivera off waivers from the Angels. The addition of Rivera brings to total players on their reserve roster 39.
According to Gabriel Burns, the Angels allowed Rivera to leave without receiving any compensation in return although it clears about $500K from their payroll for the year.
Currently on the west coast, Rivera has three days to report, so he won’t join the Braves before September first. No surprise there.
Shortly after that, the Royals announced they traded first baseman Lucas Duda to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations filling the last open slot of the 40-man roster
Who is Rene Rivera
The Mariners selected Rene Rivera in the second round of the 2001 draft. He made his major league debut just of three years later against the club he’s now leaving, the Angels.
Rivera left as a free agent in 2007 and spent time in the Dodger, Mets and Yankees system before returning to the majors in 2011 with Minnesota. That led to time in San Diego where he caught 103 games (734 innings) and hit a respectable .252/.319/.432/.751, with a .329 wOBA and 113 wRC+.
In January the Angels gave Rivera a $2.8M contract to be part of a platoon similar to the one used in Atlanta, but he tore the meniscus in his right knee and missed the rest of the season. The Angels activated him August 15.
Why Rivera
While Rivera put up good numbers a couple of times including starting this season with a .244/.287/.439 line, he’s always been a glove-first player. Baseball Prospectus consistently ranks him highly if their adjusted fielding runs above average statistic.which includes pitch framing, blocking and throwing out runners.
Earlier this week the Braves designated Chris Stewart for assignment and outrighted him off of the 40 man roster. Both Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki lost time due to injuries this year, Rivera provides a veteran backup for September and the postseason. The Braves didn’t want to risk going into a pennant run without a third catcher.