9/28/09

The Keepers - #72 - OF - Luis Rivera




72. Luis Rivera – OF – low-A – 23/yrs.

Rivera was drafted by the Anaheim Angels, in the 5th round of the 2004 draft. He hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico and played high school ball at Ramon Vill Mayo, in Rio Piedras.
Rivera played three years in the Angels organization and never got out of rookie ball. His best stats were in 2005, when he hit .280, in 132 at bats.
He somehow wound up in the Toronto organization in 2008 and batted .182 for their low-A team.
The Mets picked him up for the 2009 season, where he played exclusively for Brooklyn. He hit .299/.402/.443/.845 in 221 at bats and, all of a sudden, he looks like the best pick up the Mets made all year.
Rivera was 12th in the league in batting average, 3rd in OBS, 18th in slugging percentage, and 10th in OPS.

Forecast:
First of all, you’re not going to find much written about Rivera. He had a nice high school career, followed by four disappointing years in organized ball. He’s constantly confused with the other Luis Rivera, who is an infielder that plays a couple of levels up higher. Omar & Co. (or was that Tony B?) have a habit of picking up failures from other teams and trying to turn them into, at least, a minor league success. So far, this one looks real good, but I want to see another year before thinking this might be an outfield prospect. My guess, due to his age and experience, he will go straight to Lucy in the spring.

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