René Rivera

[William Malone]

René Rivera was born on July 31, 1983 in Puerto Rico.

The Seattle Mariners drafted him in round two of the 2001 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut for them in 2004, playing 53 games over parts of three seasons in Seattle. Rivera didn't play in the Majors between 2007 and 2010, spending time in various farm systems and independent leagues. The Minnesota Twins signed Rivera to a minor league contract ahead of the 2011 campaign.

He made his long awaited return to the big leagues that summer when superstar catcher Joe Mauer was placed on the disabled list. Rivera played 44 games for the Twins that summer, batting .144 while backing up Drew Butera. He was worth five defensive runs saved, and caught ten of 25 potential base stealers. Minnesota re-signed Rivera to another minor league deal that winter, but he spent all of 2012 in Triple-A.

Keeping Rivera in Triple-A for the entire 2012 season caused a bit of controversy. The team chose to add Chris Herrmann as a third catcher when the rosters expanded in September, causing Rivera to claim the team had broken a promise to him. Herrmann, who wasn't on the 40-man roster heading into September, made the jump straight from Double-A.

Rivera left the Twins that off-season, and wound up having a lengthy career as a back-up catcher. He played for the San Diego Padres (2013-14), Tampa Bay Rays (2015), New York Mets (2016-17, 2019-20), Chicago Cubs (2017), Los Angeles Angels (2018), Atlanta Braves (2018), Cleveland Indians (2021) and Washington Nationals (2021). His career average was .221 over 542 career games. Rivera was 1-for-3 in the 2016 NL Wild Card Game while with the Mets, which was his only career postseason action.

As of 2025, Rivera is managing the Lakeland Flying Tigers. They are a Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. He was their bench coach in 2024.

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