The Chicago Cubs made another move on Saturday morning by claiming veteran catcher Rene Rivera from the New York Mets off waivers. The 34-year old Rivera was the latest in the Mets fire sale of veteran players after already trading the likes of Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker. While he is not an all star caliber player like the previously mentioned players are or were at some point in their careers, he has plenty of experience as a backup catcher with 453 games under his belt.

Rivera will join veteran catcher Alex Avila likely as his back up with the Cubs as starting catcher Willson Contreras is recovering from a hamstring strain he suffered in early August.

He was added to the 40-man roster as they designated pitcher Aaron Brooks for assignment to make room for him. The Mets called up Kevin Plawecki and Tommy Milone after Rivera was officially claimed by the Cubs. This move cleared up another $1.75 million on the Mets payroll which was Rivera's full salary this year.

Rivera's value

Like previously mentioned he is not a big-time addition like the Indians getting Jay Bruce, but good reinforcement depth to the team in a tight division race. Rivera is known for his defense primarily, throwing out 36% of baserunners trying to steal and a .998 fielding percentage in 52 games behind the plate with the Mets. He is hitting a slash of .230/.278/.669 in 187 plate appearances with eight home runs and 23 RBIs.

He is a career .215 hitter with 34 home runs and a 36% caught stealing percentage in nine MLB seasons. Rivera also gets praise for his pitch framing which can be useful for a Cubs pitching staff that has seen its relievers walk the second most batters in baseball in the month of August.

With Avila taking on the starting duties, Rivera will get some games in behind him and possibly come in late for defensive purposes.

There is a matter of what will happen to rookie catcher Victor Caratini, who has had two stints with the MLB club playing a total of 17 games this year. The rosters will expand in September so even if he is sent to AAA Iowa for now he will most likely be back up by that time. The goal seems to be to hold off with veterans Avila and Rivera until Contreras comes back and the September expansions.

Mets clearing away

The Mets have been riding of so many veterans in a season decimated with injuries and poor play. While they are known for their young core starting pitching, their lineup has been made up of mostly veterans. So far they have parted ways with Neil Walker, Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda and now Rene Rivera.

While Reed got some prospects in return, most of the other moves were made to dump salary with not much in terms of prospects coming in return. The demand for a number of these guys was not high considering their age and the market simply not in need of these kinds of players. The Mets have saved a decent amount in payroll going into next year, but it is hard to say what they will do in the offseason considering the free agent market in 2017-2018 is not spectacular.
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