Washington claims Rivero; Phillies sign two others
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Washington claims Rivero; Phillies sign two others
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
To make room on the 40-man roster for Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies waived infielder Carlos Rivero. He was claimed by the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
Rivero, 23, was acquired off waivers by the Phillies last winter. He hit .270 with 16 home runs mostly at double-A Reading with a brief stint at triple-A Lehigh Valley coming at the end of the season.
He was a shortstop in the Cleveland organization before the Phillies moved him to third base. He made 27 errors at third in 2011
In addition, the Phillies invited two more players -- infielder Hector Luna and outfielder Luis Montanez -- to spring training on minor-league deals.
Luna, 31, played at triple A for Boston in 2011 and hit .283 with 14 home runs. He's played in 311 major-league games with four different teams.
Montanez, 30, played in 36 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2011. He hit .321 at triple-A Iowa with 38 extra-base hits.
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Comments (51)
Never impressed with Rivero when I saw him play with Reading. Seemed like he had trouble focusing and anticipating in the field. This was his third year at AA. But it is hard to believe that Ruben lost two third basemen in the last two weeks: Mattair in the AA Rule Five draft and now Rivero on major league waivers. Thought that third base was a weak spot in the system but two other organizations apparently did not think so.— Dull- I saw him at Reading as well and he is nothing special. The guy has been waived twice in around 2 years, so he must be a real HOF candidate. The posters complaining about this have never seen him play. Maybe warbiscuit et al would like to see that boob Ed Wade ascend to the GM position again. — Bob1
- He was taken off the 40 man roster...that's not being waived....And one can say that he was scooped up two years in a row when left unprotected, as the Phillies did when they acquired him from Cleveland's system...He has a frame that scouts like to say " will grow into", and power numbers finally emerged (but in Reading that's easy anyway)...Maikel Franco becomes the top prospect at third now, and he'll be in Lakewood this summer...David Wright, we're coming to get ya. — bearsfriend
- Army is not about complaining for losing Rivero, but he's still 23, had decent numbers, the Phillies are weak at the 3B position and Bowker was a better alternative to be waived, IMO. If we have a position were we have depth is the OF and especially LH hitting outfielders.
— EL Zorro - Rivero was an Iron Glove at third here in Reading before he became an Iron Pig. Shortstop is covered with Rollins signed for four years, Valdez and Martinez ready to sub in short term for Jimmy (or for Polanco at third) and Quinn, Greene, and Walding all in the pipeline for a few years down the road. If Polanco breaks down for good, you can rest assured that Amaro will go the trade route rather than rely upon a AA defensive sieve to man the hot corner at the MLB level.— dasher
- No, but I have seen Bowker (he has been waived a few times). He's older and has no future in the OF rich Phillies organization. So in your opinion, Bowker, who btw has been rumored to be on his way to Japan, is a better value to be kept in the 40-man roster than a 23 year old who happens to play a position the organization is very thin at?— EL Zorro
- I'll posted again. In 5 full seasons in the minor, Jimmy Rollins made 20 or more errors, including 29 in one, and two of 26, including his last year in AAA. His FP was .954. Now he's one of the best fielding SS in baseball. So, don't get to caught up with young players making errors in the minors. I could gave you Robbie Alomar as Exhibit B, IMO the best defensive 2B I have seen.— EL Zorro
- Agreed, if anything, early into the season when Rivero was introduced to readership....and the fact that he was replacing an offensive overachiever in Overbeck, his strength was supposedly great range at third and a strong arm....(although I do agree with Dull concerning lax concentration at times)...When the writer added the fact that Rivero made 27 errors in 2011, I took it as a PR type of line to make it seem that it's OK...The same writer told me a year ago Mayberry would never make an impact with the big club..Go figure. — bearsfriend
- Some of you people would complain if you were handed a million dollars tax free. Big whoop...Carlos Rivero and his 27 errors. The Phillies are one of baseball's elite franchises. When Polanco is ready to move over, we'll have a fine established player through trade or free agency thats ten times better than Carlos Rivero. Waste your negativity on something else..— bradco
- I think RAJ thought nobody was going to claim him, bear. You just don't give up on a 23 year old infielder who hit 16 HR with 76 RB in 90 games or so.— EL Zorro
- In 1995, at age 21, Derek Jeter had 29 errors at tripla A in Columbus.— zeke128
- I really like Rivero. He looked like an incredible athlete who could hit and run. It would have been nice to give him another year to see if his defense turns around. There are no other potential 3rd basemen in the system (as far as I know). We will have to give RAJ time before we judge.— mc1302
- Yes Zeke and Derek Jeter is also one of the worst defensive infielders of this generation.— Armyofthe15Monkies
- Yes Zeke and Derek Jeter is also one of the worst defensive infielders of this generation.— Armyofthe15Monkies
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
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