Twins Birthdays--July 31

Also posted at wgom.org

Rene Rivera (1983)

Catcher Rene (Rivera) Rivera appeared in forty-five games for the Twins in 2011. Born and raised in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by Seattle in the second round in 2001. He spent the next seven years in the Mariners organization not doing much on offense, but still got three stints in the majors. One assumes he was considered an excellent defensive catcher. His best year in the minors appears to have been 2003, when he hit .275 with nine home runs for Class A Wisconsin. He had a decent partial season at AA San Antonio in 2005 as well. He actually hit .396 for Seattle that season, but it was only in 48 at-bats. The next year, given 99 at-bats in the majors, he hit .152. He became a minor league free agent after the 2007 season and started bouncing around. He was in the Dodgers’ organization in 2008, in the Yankees’ system in 2009, and in the Mets’ chain in 2010. The Twins signed him for 2011. Rivera split the season between Rochester and Minnesota. His half-season in Rochester was actually one of his better ones, as he hit .268 with an OPS of .775. It did not translate to the majors, however, as he hit .144/.211/.202 for the Twins in 104 at-bats. He stayed in the Twins’ organization through 2012, serving as a part-time catcher for Rochester, then signed with the Padres for 2013. He actually was having a pretty good year in AAA Tucson when he was called up to the Padres as a reserve catcher in early July. His major league numbers, at this writing, are .196/.238/.278 in 270 at-bats. Unless you believe he suddenly figured something out in Tucson, there’s no reason to think he belongs in a major league uniform; on the other hand, there never really has been, yet there he is, so you never know. He may be one of these guys who hangs around as a backup catcher forever.