Guardians Claim Alfonso Rivas From Pirates

The Guardians announced they’ve claimed first baseman Alfonso Rivas off waivers from the Pirates.

Rivas, 27, was drafted by the A’s in the fourth round out of the University of Arizona back in 2018.  Oakland later sent him to the Cubs for Tony Kemp in January 2020.  Rivas got a fair bit of run on the 2022 Cubs, leading them in defensive innings at first base that year.  He managed just an 83 wRC+ at the plate, prompting the Cubs to designate him for assignment last December and release him in January.

Rivas then hooked on with the Padres on a minor league deal, and he managed to rake in 260 Triple-A plate appearances to the tune of a 156 wRC+.  That earned him a call back to the bigs in June, and then a trade to the Pirates at the deadline in the Rich Hill/Ji Man Choi deal.  With the Bucs having shipped out first basemen Choi and Carlos Santana, Rivas got into 40 games for the Pirates in the season’s final two months as the strong side of a platoon.  His Triple-A success failed to translate, as Rivas posted a 97 wRC+ with a 27.4% strikeout rate.

The Guardians are set with Josh Naylor as their starting first baseman in 2024.  Naylor and Rivas both bat left-handed, not that Naylor needs a platoon partner anyway.  Rivas did see a little bit of time at the outfield corners last year at Triple-A.  He could also push his way into the Guardians’ DH mix with a strong start to the season, if he’s able to hang on to his 40-man roster spot all winter.  The Guardians appear to have 39 players on their 40-man roster, once free agents Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Kole Calhoun are removed and Rivas is added.