Juan Rivera
Juan Luis Rivera (born July 3, 1978) is a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who plays for the Montreal Expos. He was born in Guarenas, Miranda State, Venezuela.
Rivera was signed by the New York Yankees as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1996 and made his debut in the 2001 season. When he came up to New York in midseason 2002, and while he showed promise, his .265 of batting average and one home run was a disappointment for the Yankees standard.
Sent back to AAA Columbus, Rivera was again recalled in 2003. This time he hit seven homers (including a multi-homer game) with 26 runs batted in. But the problems of occasional distraction affected his fielding. Except for those lapses, he have a great jump and decent range, a strong arm and an aggressiveness that puts him in throwing positions as quickly as any outfielder, specially in the right field. He was traded to Montreal at the end of the season. If he finally can grows up in a young team, there's no reason why Rivera can't be a main force in the middle of the Montreal lineup.
In three seasons as a backup for the Yankees, Rivera batted .262 (68-260) with 8 home runs, 32 run batted in, 19 doubles, and one stolen base in 88 games.
