MINNEAPOLIS – Luis Rivera, a member of the Toronto Blue Jays coaching staff since the 2011 season, is retiring, leaving the club with an opening for a third base and infield coach.
The 59-year-old native of Cidra, Puerto Rico, told Sportsnet that he made the decision in recent weeks after considering retirement last off-season, as well. He and the team have discussed smaller potential roles, including some guest coaching work during spring training.
Rivera first joined the organization in 2010 as the manager at double-A New Hampshire and was promoted to the Blue Jays coaching staff in 2011 as an assistant on John Farrell’s staff.
When Farrell left for the Boston Red Sox after the 2012 season and took third base coach Brian Butterfield with him, Rivera remained on the staff and moved over into the third-base role under manager John Gibbons.
Aside from deftly handling the high-stress job of waving runners home, the former shortstop, who played 781 games across 11 big-league seasons with Montreal, Boston, the Mets, Houston and Kansas City also handled duties with the club’s infielders.
He was an early adopter of players wearing small gloves during infield drills to better train hand-eye co-ordination, and often thought of creative drills to better train reactions, footwork, internal timing and other key elements of defending on the dirt.
Internal possibilities to replace him include Mark Budzinski, the current first base coach, although he works with outfielders and typically, third-base coaches typically handle infielders. Danny Solano, the club’s minor-league infield co-ordinator since 2017, is well respected and worked with several of the team’s infielders during their development.
