Exclusive: Yankees Sign C Rene Rivera

I’m at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ and can exclusively report that the Yankees have signed Camden Riversharks catcher and former big leaguer Rene Rivera to a contract.  He spent parts of 2004, 2005 and 2006 with the Seattle Mariners and spent all of last season in Triple-A Buffalo with the Mets organization.

I spoke with Rivera — who confirmed the signing and that he’s heading to Scranton and reporting tomorrow.

“I’m very happy to be signed by an organization.  Let’s see what happens,” Rivera said.

“I’m going to go to Scranton, and I’m going to join the team tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to staying healthy first and keep doing what I’m supposed to do.”

Rivera was kind enough to describe what kind of player he is.

“I’m a defensive guy, I like to catch,” said the 26-year-old.

“I think I call a good game, I’ve got a pretty good arm.  My main thing is catching.  I think about helping the pitcher out and helping the ballclub out.  My hitting comes around.  I don’t like to think about hitting too much, because that won’t help the pitchers.  I help the pitchers out, and we’ll win some ballgames;.”

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com

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