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.
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.
Interesting…
Very interesting…
Extremely interesting…
Not interested
Solid pickup.
They should sign Cashner now. Those two worked really well together with the Padres in 2013-14.
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
He’s not a reliever and that stupid narrative needs to stop getting pushed.
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.
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.
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.
Thank you! There’s only one Andrew Miller, and I wish people would stop acting like that’s something everyone can do.
He’s a starter.
He was the Padres closer once upon a time. Let’s not pretend this is uncharted territory for Cashner
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.
Heck no lmao
Minor league filler only.
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?
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.
Yeah, you and what cucumber army? Heh, Get it? Because cucumbers are immature pickles. Heh that there is a kneeslapper.
Your jokes do not discourage me! I will still be victorious!
I’m sorry I’m just trying to compensate for my shortcomings in life.
*clap*
Don’t quit your day job.
Despite it being a Major League deal. Reading is your enemy.
I remember hearing about in many years ago when he was playing for Papa John’s high school in P.R.
Lol
good signing for Angels.
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!
Wonder who the Cubs will sign to back up Willson now.
Caratini
I’d personally love to have Avila back
Off topic but can someone please help me with posting a comment here? Everytime I post a comment, it duplicates everything I type.
… never mind
… never mind
eh. Rivera’s defense wasn’t really that great.
Explain.
He said “eh”.
What does the fact that he’s Canadian have to do with it?
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%)
He was a good back up for the Cubs, good signing by the Angels.
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
Good for him. Good reserve, and getting paid.