The Rangers have signed infielder Yadiel Rivera to a minor league contract, according to their executive vice president of communications, John Blake. The deal includes an invitation to big league spring training.
Texas will be the third MLB organization for the 27-year-old Rivera, previously a member of the Brewers and Marlins. Rivera appeared in the majors in each of the past five seasons, but he struggled mightily to make his mark, evidenced by his dismal .178/.248/.221 line with a single home run and a feckless .043 ISO over 188 plate appearances. Strikeouts have been a significant problem for Rivera, who has fallen victim to the K just under 31 percent of the time during his brief MLB action.
Although Rivera has hit better in Triple-A ball, he hasn’t exactly crushed pitching there. In 1,358 PA at the minors’ top level, Rivera has slashed .243/.280/.352 with 22 homers. Rivera did bat a fairly productive-looking .293/.310/.477 in 312 PA with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans last season, but his output was 16 percent below average in the offensively charged Pacific Coast League environment, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric. Furthermore, Rivera’s strikeout and walk rates were abysmal. He went down on strikes at a 26 percent clip and collected walks just 1.9 percent of the time.
I can see where the Rangers could use a good DH — like Cano of the Mets —
That’s like saying the Mets could use another starter.
Mets and seattle would be paying 75% of his salary — maybe the Mets throw Edwin Diaz in
Rangers have plenty of DH types.
That’ll be Choo’s job most likely
Scratching my head…… again…..
It’s a minor league contract flyer. Why is that head scratching? AAA needs warm bodies
He’s 29 years old and has had a poor minor league record. He should be a car salesman by now.
So triple A player?
Dang I read this as “Rangers sign Yadier Molina’.
Gosh he’s terrible. Played the marlins a bunch and don’t remember him at allllll
Why did the Rangers sign this guy? That’s all they need another “feather hitter” in their lineup. Rangers aren’t serious in signing any quality hitters.
He’s a minor league contract flyer. Not sure why you’re getting so worked up over this. He’ll likely be a warm body in AAA.
It was a minor league contract not a major league one
No upside on this signing at all
The Rangers must’ve added this clown to throw at the Rockies when they trade for Arenado lmao
Could this be the first time this site used the word feckless?
The name is new to me. I completely understand that every team brings in guys on minor league contracts this time of year. But after reading this article I for the life of me can’t see what would make a GM or team decision maker come to the conclusion that Yadiel Rivera is the guy for us. I’m not close to being qualified for a job of that magnitude so I could absolutely be off base here. Or maybe the article left something out? I mean anything slightly appealing?