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2008 Once the Brewers shed their Chad Moeller fetish in 2006, Mike Rivera stepped in as Damian Miller's backup and hit .268/.325/.458, but the acquisition of Johnny Estrada that winter forced him to spend last year in Nashville. 2007 Prior to the season, Rivera was a career emergency catcher with a .218/.255/.315 batting line. Called up because the Brewers finally gave up on Chad Moeller, Rivera responded to his first big league service time since 2003 by showing the pop he can deliver when he`s at his best. With Miller and Estrada around, Rivera won`t get a chance to show that wasn`t a fluke unless someone gets injured or traded. 2003 Traded to the Padres in mid-November for Gene Kingsale because the Tigers theoretically have a surplus of catching talent and a deficit of unproven speedy outfielders that can’t hit, neither of which is true. Rivera isn’t a blue-chip prospect, but he has real power and should easily replace the departed Tom Lampkin and resident floater Wiki Gonzalez as San Diego’s regular backstop. While his defense is questionable, Bruce Bochy should be able to tutor Rivera to enable the team to benefit from his bat. Unfortunately for Rivera, too many teams refuse to start subpar defensive catchers who can thump the ball. In most cases, the best solution is to play the hitter and find a good catch-and-throw guy (they’re easy to come by) as a reserve. By using the catch-and-throw receiver as a late-inning defensive replacement and spot-starting him against opponents who run a lot, a team can maximize its offensive production from the position while minimizing the defensive damage. Even assuming that Kingsale has value, they had other options in center and didn’t have to give Rivera away. A Rivera/Inge "platoon" could have been a big plus for Detroit. 2002 Rivera nearly doubled his career-high in walks, and presto!, he was the best hitter in the organization and was named the best power-hitting prospect in the Eastern League. The Tigers suddenly have a peck of catchers. Even ignoring Fick and Meluskey, the Tigers must decide between Inge, a terrific backstop who does less damage at the plate than Lara Flynn Boyle, and Rivera, who can mash but whose glove has more holes than the lone-gunman theory. As always, bet on defense to win out in the spring and for offense to take over in the summer. 2001 It’s a credit to roving catching instructor Glenn Ezell that the Tigers have a bushel of fair catching prospects while hopefuls at other positions die on the vine. This abundance may help rationalize--but certainly doesn’t validate--moving Munson to first base. Mike Rivera’s bat is his ticket to The Show, so his initial dislike of Double-A pitching isn’t encouraging. He needs to learn to be more selective at the plate, a course of study that hasn’t been a prerequisite to playing in Comerica Park.
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