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March 30, 2005
Trade
Texas traded 2B/CF RAMON NIVAR to Baltimore for pitcher MATT RILEY.
Texas gives up on Nivar and gets a decent return for him. In 2003, Nivar came out of nowhere almost literally; until then he was named "Ramon Martinez." Nivar tore through AA and AAA and debuted for Texas in July 2003. Speedy but highly undisciplined, Nivar batted .211 with minimal power and only four walks in 95 plate appearances. He made the 2004 squad as a temp when Brian Jordan had to start the season on the DL, but he soon returned to AAA, where he batted a miserly .264/.290/.374 and was caught stealing on fourteen occasions. Barring a sudden increase in his walk rate and/or an Ichiro-like surge in batting average, he's nothing more than a fifth outfielder or backup 2B.
Riley was 17 when Baltimore selected him in the third-round of the 1997 draft, and he signed barely before his rights expired in 1998. He made his Major League debut just fourteen months later and was not up tothe task. Riley missed all of 2001 after Tommy John surgery. Since then, he's pitched well in AAA and poorly in the Majors. His career walk rate for Baltimmore is 6.6 per nine innings. Also, Riley is out of options and must stick with Texas or pass through waivers.
Posted by Lucas at March 30, 2005 08:45 PM