T.J. Rivera’s spring training with the Mets never really got started, and Saturday it concluded with the popular infielder receiving his release from the club.
The 30-year-old Rivera had not appeared in the Grapefruit League because of discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow. Rivera missed all of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“I think we started to look at the playing time as we go forward in camp,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said. “We also started to realize the number of guys we have playing the infield positions were significant and as we built the roster over the course of this offseason it was clear that some people were going to have to be removed from the equation, not only to compete at the major league level but also to compete for our Triple-A roster.”
Rivera, a Bronx native, had a .304/.335/.445 slash line in 106 games for the Mets in 2016 and 2017. His rehab was shut down last summer because of discomfort in his elbow, on which he had surgery in September 2017.
I was a huge T.J. Rivera fan. So much that I thought for sure that he’d be the starting 2nd baseman for the Mets for a long time. However, the injury bug just caught up to him and considering the length of time he’s been out, I guess the Mets had no choice but to let him go.