THE REASON JUAN RIVERA WAS RELEASED

Juan Rivera had a good run this spring hitting .305. Juan Rivera is a nice guy and Juan Rivera could have been put on the 40 man roster by the Yankees, but according to Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News (HERE), the Yankees chose to release Juan Rivera instead.

Look, it's business. The real story on why this happened is easy to understand. Trust me, as a fan, you can understand why Rivera was released. The biggest thing was Juan Rivera was not a true first baseman and Lyle Overbay is, and has better experience there. Rivera was the square in a round hole at first base for the Yankees.  Overbay is round... you know what I mean?

Also, you need to understand that signing Vernon Wells pretty much starts to eliminate a spot for Rivera in the outfield as well. I mean, how many outfielders can the Yankees actually have? We already have Vernon, Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Gardner. Then, Ben Francisco, who is solid. You also have Thomas Neal  who I believe will be with us in our minor league system and Brennan Boesch can play the outfield too.  I just don't know if we really need more.

 (In Photo: Ronnier Mustelier)
And, if we did, then we'll call up Melky Mesa or Ronnier Mustelier. In a nutshell, what seemed like a sure thing for Juan Rivera turned into a guy underwater breathing out a straw. He's was suffocating and eventually got snuffed out with the Yankees last minute moves in acquiring Wells and Overbay.

I like Rivera and he did well for us, but it's clear the Yankees have other plans and the timing worked out when first baseman Lyle Overbay showed up.  Rivera ended up losing out to lack of experience at first and overcrowding in the outfield, that's it!  One thing that sucks is Rivera put in his time. Unfortunately though, he ran out of time and with Ben Francisco and Lyle Overbay making the club, again... Juan Rivera is replaceable.

I wish Rivera the best. The timing was wrong, but he'll land on his feet somewhere. Unfortunately there won't be a sequel to the "Juan Rivera is a Yankee" flick anytime soon.

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