According to Jon Heyman of MLBNetwork, the New York Mets and veteran Rene Rivera are currently in talks, and it looks promising that Queens will be a landing spot for the veteran backstop. Matt Ehalt of MLBYahooSports, notes that the Mets have arranged to place Devin Mesoraco on the restricted list and he is ready to retire which in turn leaves the team with one less catcher.
Rivera was released from the San Francisco Giants on March 23. The Mets are looking to re-sign Rene Rivera for this now second stint with the team. Back in 2016, the Mets signed Rivera to a minor league deal to which he bat .222/.291/.341 with a fWAR of 0.5. Rivera was with the club from 2016 through the middle of 2017, when he was put on waivers and claimed by the Chicago Cubs.
The last year and a half Rivera has been on the Cubs, Angels, and then he was with the Braves for 2018, until going to the Giants for Spring Training. With the exception of the end of 2017 with the Cubs where Rene bat .341/.408/.591 in 40 at bats, 2018 left him with numbers more accurate to his abilities. When he was on the Angels and Braves Rivera hit .233/.275/.419 with a fWAR of 0.4 with the Angels and -0.1 with the Braves.
As a Mets fan, I saw this coming once seeing his release and given the Mesoraco news. The Mets are looking for a solid backup catcher to have in the minors in case something catastrophic happens to all three of their catchers: Wilson Ramos, Travis d’Arnaud, and Tomas Nido–as they should be.
Rene Rivera was a big help for the Mets in 2016 and 2017 with the difficulties they had with their catching situation being injured, so it is no shock that they want to have extra depth for the position.
Additionally, Rene Rivera was always well liked by RHP Noah Syndergaard and he already knows all of our pitching staff, so it will not be too difficult a transition. As long as Rivera doesn’t mind hanging out in the minors, I believe this will be a great signing.
