Detroit Tigers Rivera attended
Troy State University (where he was a
Mid-Continent Conference Eastern Division All-Star) and was signed by the
Detroit Tigers as an amateur
free agent in 1997. He began play that season with the Rookie League
Gulf Coast League Tigers, batting .286 in 47 games. He played for the Class A
West Michigan Whitecaps in 1998. In 1999, he played the majority of the season with the Class A-Advanced
Lakeland Tigers, but also played a few games for the Double-A
Jacksonville Suns. He returned to both Lakeland and Jacksonville in 2000 in addition to playing with the
Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. Rivera played the entire 2001 season with the Double-A
Erie SeaWolves before being called up to the majors in September. He was a
Gulf Coast League All-Star in 1997, a
Florida State League All-Star in 1999, and an
Eastern League All-Star in 2001. He made his major league debut on September 18, 2001, for the Tigers against the
Minnesota Twins as a late inning defensive replacement. His first start was on September 22 against the
Boston Red Sox, he was hitless in four at-bats. He recorded his first major league
hit on September 27 against the
Kansas City Royals, a
single to left field off
Mike MacDougal. He appeared in a total of four games for the Tigers that season and another 39 in 2002. He hit his first career
home run on April 4 against the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He spent half of the 2002 season with Triple-A Toledo.
San Diego Padres On November 15, 2002, he was traded by the Tigers to the
San Diego Padres for
Gene Kingsale. During the 2003 season, Rivera appeared in 19 games for the Padres and hit .170. In 2008, he was again promoted to the majors as a backup for
Jason Kendall, and also played
first base occasionally. On August 13, 2009, Rivera had his first career multi-home run game against the San Diego Padres. He played three games for Nashville that season and the rest of the year with Milwaukee.
New York Yankees On December 22, 2009, Rivera signed a minor league contract with the
New York Yankees. On April 3, 2010, before the season began, he was released when the Yankees signed
Chad Moeller to be their backup catcher for the Triple-A
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.
Los Angeles Dodgers On April 20, 2010, Rivera signed with the
Los Angeles Dodgers and was assigned to the Double-A
Chattanooga Lookouts. On August 4, he was promoted to the Triple-A
Albuquerque Isotopes. He was released on August 28. He hit .257 in 58 games with Chattanooga and .125 in 14 games for Albuquerque.
Florida Marlins On September 2, 2010 he signed a minor league contract with the
Florida Marlins Milwaukee Brewers (second stint) On October 17, 2010, Rivera signed a minor-league contract with the
Milwaukee Brewers for the 2011 season. He was called up to the major leagues on May 17, 2011 when
Sean Green was designated for assignment. He elected to become a free agent following the season, but was re-signed by Milwaukee to a minor-league contract on December 9. The Brewers released Rivera on March 30, 2012.
Boston Red Sox Rivera initially signed with the
Long Island Ducks of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball for the 2012 season. However, prior to the start of the season, on April 20, 2012, Rivera signed a minor league contract with the
Boston Red Sox. He spent the remainder of the year with the
Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's Triple-A affiliate. ==References==