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Angels Sign Rene Rivera, Designate Nate Smith For Assignment

By Steve Adams | January 9, 2018 at 10:26pm CDT

10:26pm: Rivera will be guaranteed $2.8MM on his deal with the Angels, Fletcher reports (also via Twitter).

9:39pm: The Angels announced tonight that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year, Major League contract with veteran catcher Rene Rivera. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Halos have designated lefty Nate Smith for assignment. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports, via Twitter, Smith is undergoing shoulder surgery and is expected to miss the entire 2018 season.

Rene Rivera | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

By adding the 34-year-old Rivera, the Angels further bolster what is shaping up to be one of the top defensive clubs in all of Major League Baseball. Rivera isn’t likely to start in Anaheim, but he carries a superlative defensive reputation and will complement 2017 Gold Glove winner Martin Maldonado to form a terrific defensive duo behind the dish.

Rivera split this past season between the Mets and the Cubs, combining to bat .252/.305/.431 with 10 homers in 237 trips to the plate. That marked his most productive season since a career year with the Padres back in 2014, during which he batted .252/.319/.432 with a career-high 11 homers.

Overall, Rivera is a rather light-hitting catcher, as evidenced by a career .220/.271/.349 batting line and a .224/.280/.368 slash over the past four seasons. But, he’s also thrown out 36 percent of would-be base thieves in his big league career and has been remarkably consistent in that regard; Rivera has never posted a caught-stealing rate lower than the 30 percent clip he registered in 2016, and he halted a hefty 37 percent of stolen-base attempts against him this past year in 2017.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels depth chart]

From a pitch-framing standpoint, Rivera was only a tick above average in ’17, but he’s been average or better in that regard in each season of his Major League career. Baseball Prospectus considered Rivera a roughly average defender at the position overall this past season, but he ranked as the fifth-most valuable defensive backstop in the game as recently as 2016, per their Fielding Runs Above Average metric.

The addition of Rivera pushes Carlos Perez and Juan Graterol, both on the 40-man roster, out of the picture as Maldonado’s backup. That’s especially significant for Perez, who is out of minor league options and now stands out all the more as a change-of-scenery candidate. (Graterol, meanwhile, has a pair of minor league options remaining.) The Angels have also picked up former Rays catcher Curt Casali on a minors pact this offseason, and the presence of Rivera further muddies his path to the big league roster.

As for Smith, he’s long been touted as one of the Angels’ best prospects, but injuries limited him to just 15 innings between Rookie ball (on an injury rehab) and Triple-A in 2017. A former eighth-round pick (2013), Smith tore through the lower minors and thrived with a 2.63 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 164 Double-A innings, but his effectiveness evaporated upon reaching Triple-A. In 192 career frames at that level, he’s pitched to a 5.06 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Nate Smith Rene Rivera

AL East Notes: Stanton, Frazier, Andujar, JDM, Givens, Blue Jays
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Xavier Scruggs Re-Signs With KBO’s NC Dinos
View Comments (45)
Post a Comment

45 Comments

  1. Chris Sale Amateur Tailor

    8 years ago

    Interesting…

    Reply
    • Chris Sale Amateur Tailor

      8 years ago

      Very interesting…

      Reply
      • acarneglia

        8 years ago

        Extremely interesting…

        1
        Reply
        • GareBear

          8 years ago

          Not interested

          1
          Reply
        • GoRockies

          8 years ago

          Reply
  2. Ully

    8 years ago

    Solid pickup.

    3
    Reply
  3. AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

    8 years ago

    They should sign Cashner now. Those two worked really well together with the Padres in 2013-14.

    1
    Reply
    • angelsinthetroutfield

      8 years ago

      Wonder if Cashner would be interested in a relief ace type role. I think that’s the next/final guy Eppler adds.

      Like the Rivera pick-up BTW. Wonder if Perez can get us a Kyle Crockett type arm

      Reply
      • AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

        8 years ago

        He’s not a reliever and that stupid narrative needs to stop getting pushed.

        Reply
        • davidcoonce74

          8 years ago

          Cashner? He’s an awful starting pitcher and maybe the stuff would play up in the bullpen. I’m surprised a team hasn’t tried him back there yet.

          Reply
        • AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

          8 years ago

          Awful starting pitchers don’t have 3.40 ERA’s and as far as I have seen the stuff played down in the bullpen. He just lapsed into overthrowing and walked everyone. A team hasn’t tried him there yet because that would be trying to fix what isn’t broken.
          PS: downvoting other people’s comments doesn’t help your argument.

          Reply
        • GareBear

          8 years ago

          But look at any peripheral stat or advanced metric and you’d see his stuff isn’t really playing up as a starter and luck might have been on his side last year. There isn’t another starter in MLB that had success with those types of numbers. I fully expect someone to try him as a starter and then regret it.

          1
          Reply
        • Michael Chaney

          8 years ago

          Thank you! There’s only one Andrew Miller, and I wish people would stop acting like that’s something everyone can do.

          Reply
        • AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

          8 years ago

          He’s a starter.

          Reply
        • angelsinthetroutfield

          8 years ago

          He was the Padres closer once upon a time. Let’s not pretend this is uncharted territory for Cashner

          Reply
        • AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

          8 years ago

          Yes and then he became a starter and only then did he start to get results. Out of the bullpen he just walked everyone because he was throwing rather than pitching.

          Reply
    • halofan20

      8 years ago

      Heck no lmao

      1
      Reply
  4. greatdaysport

    8 years ago

    Minor league filler only.

    1
    Reply
    • bigcubsfan

      8 years ago

      He signed a major league contract. Looks like he will be the backup catcher. Why you say this? This is something pickle-nose would say! Are you pickle-nose?

      4
      Reply
      • Chris Sale Amateur Tailor

        8 years ago

        It is I, pickle-nose. I was able to control yet another account, and soon I will take over the world and make everyone a pickle-nose like me. Hahahaha.

        Reply
        • bigcubsfan

          8 years ago

          Yeah, you and what cucumber army? Heh, Get it? Because cucumbers are immature pickles. Heh that there is a kneeslapper.

          Reply
        • Chris Sale Amateur Tailor

          8 years ago

          Your jokes do not discourage me! I will still be victorious!

          Reply
        • Chris Sale Amateur Tailor

          8 years ago

          I’m sorry I’m just trying to compensate for my shortcomings in life.

          Reply
        • matthew102402

          8 years ago

          *clap*

          Reply
        • davbee

          8 years ago

          Don’t quit your day job.

          Reply
    • Jockstrapper

      8 years ago

      Despite it being a Major League deal. Reading is your enemy.

      2
      Reply
  5. lilpartialbaldo

    8 years ago

    I remember hearing about in many years ago when he was playing for Papa John’s high school in P.R.

    Reply
  6. ttinsley1434

    8 years ago

    Lol

    Reply
  7. terry g

    8 years ago

    good signing for Angels.

    Reply
  8. frankthetank1985

    8 years ago

    Solid player. As a Mets fan, he was dependable, decent enough bat at times but a solid fielder and a very good receiver for the pitchers. Mets young staff liked throwing to him. Good pick up for the angels. Yet again. Great off season hey are having. Sheesh. Maybe the Mets could pay attention to how a team can actually sign someone during an offseason. Imagine that!

    2
    Reply
  9. Jockstrapper

    8 years ago

    Wonder who the Cubs will sign to back up Willson now.

    Reply
    • wrigleywannabe

      8 years ago

      Caratini

      Reply
    • pmhockey35

      8 years ago

      I’d personally love to have Avila back

      2
      Reply
  10. Realtexan

    8 years ago

    Reply
  11. Hiro

    8 years ago

    Off topic but can someone please help me with posting a comment here? Everytime I post a comment, it duplicates everything I type.

    Reply
    • Hiro

      8 years ago

      … never mind

      Reply
      • dynamite drop in monty

        8 years ago

        … never mind

        Reply
  12. Blake Camden

    8 years ago

    eh. Rivera’s defense wasn’t really that great.

    2
    Reply
    • davidcoonce74

      8 years ago

      Explain.

      Reply
      • dynamite drop in monty

        8 years ago

        He said “eh”.

        1
        Reply
        • davbee

          8 years ago

          What does the fact that he’s Canadian have to do with it?

          Reply
    • mlb1225

      8 years ago

      Might not have been the best this year (-3 DRS), but has solid career numbers (17 DRS), and he threw out 37% of runners trying to steal on him (league average is 27%)

      1
      Reply
  13. stevebaratta

    8 years ago

    He was a good back up for the Cubs, good signing by the Angels.

    Reply
  14. Ryan W

    8 years ago

    Loved Rene when he was with the Pads. He’s always seemed like a solid character team-first kind of guy, who fills the backup catcher role quite nicely. Makes me happy to see someone who was basically a career minor-leaguer til age 30 make a lengthy stay in the big leagues

    1
    Reply
  15. tim815

    8 years ago

    Good for him. Good reserve, and getting paid.

    1
    Reply

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