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This time of year it’s common for teams to puts players on waivers. Just about any player. In this case, it was Rene Rivera and the Braves were interested. This will be Rivera’s 6th team since the 2014 season.
#Braves acquire Rene Rivera from #Angels via waiver claim. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 29, 2018
Rivera, who spent a good chunk of the year on the DL will likely serve as catching depth for the Braves as they make their final push into September. He only logged 87 plate appearances with the Halos and put up a .244 AVG with a .287 OBP. Behind the plate he nabbed 7 out of 16 would be base stealers.
For their part, the Angels will be back to the rookie catching tandem of Francisco Arcia and Jose Briceno. Arcia has a .280 AVG and .321 OBP with a 33% caught stealing rate and Briceno hit .291 with a .333 OBP and also a 33% caught stealing rate over his 30 big league games.
The return on this deal has yet to be announced but don’t expect much more than cash or a fringe minor league guy. If nothing else, this frees up 500K in remaining salary that the Braves will be covering for the remainder fo the year.