The Phillies have acquired infielder T.J. Rivera in a minor league trade with the Pirates. Because Rivera was playing on a minor league deal and hadn’t seen any MLB action this year, he was allowed to be dealt after the July 30 trade deadline.
The trade represents Rivera’s second stint in the Phils organization, as he signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia during the 2019-20 offseason but was released prior to the opening of the club’s 2020 summer camp. Rivera caught on with the independent Long Island Ducks back in May, but was quickly inked to a minors contract by the Pirates and he has since hit .249/.295/.389 over 212 PA for Triple-A Indianapolis.
Rivera’s big league resume consists over 106 games and 344 PA with the Mets in 2016-17, with the Bronx native delivering a very respectable .304/.335/.445 slash line in that rather brief amount of playing time. Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2017, however, and continued to face elbow problems before the Mets eventually released him in 2019.
WtfMate
Another August trade… Cool?
Ron Tingley
Bang bang
DarkSide830
big if true
Yankee-4-Lifer 75
What I remember about T.J Rivera is that he can hit. Nice line drive, contact hitter.
Bill M
Right. 5 years ago
jyosuckas
He could handle the keystone adequately too
Monkey’s Uncle
The Pirates are doing some organizational spring cleaning today… in August.
VonPurpleHayes
Nice. Injuries are adding up. Could use another glove.
bradthebluefish
Major league stats look good! Though his minor league stats are pretty abysmal. Hoping he does well in Philly!
When it was a game.
He is a good ball player. Can hit and won’t hurt you in the field. Those who remember him reminds me of Hubie Brooks. He was kept down because he went undrafted since draft position judges your talent. Why degrom made his debut at 26.
rct
That’s not why deGrom debuted at 26. He only started pitching at 21. He went to college and was drafted at age 22, then had Tommy John surgery and missed his age 23 season. Age 24 worked through A to AA, 25 at AA to AAA. Debut at 26. Pretty standard.
When it was a game.
My bad. Did not research. Kinda just assumed since mets have kept a few guys down longer then should have.
Ghost of past pirates
Thats why your not in the HOF. YOUR MORE LIKE HOA
When it was a game.
Ghost of pirates past. Maz is haunting you along with jay buhner.
Larry David's Joe Pepitone Jersey
I think Rivera could have at least turned out to be a decent bench player had he stayed healthy. He was a bit of an one-dimensional hitter (not a lot of power and not a lot of walks) and his biggest problem was that he didn’t have a position he was great at – if I remember correctly, they were even trying him in LF before he went down with TJS
edcl54
What does it say about the Phillies minor leagues if you don’t already have mediocre players there now,, you need to trade for it ?
koldjerky
This happens all the time. AAA depth.
angt222
Really want to see him make the big leagues again. Too bad injuries slowed down his momentum.
phillyphan81
Already has a better track record than Larry Greene and T.J. was undrafted
ghost of dave kingman
Super. Asking for Alec…. Can he play 3rd??