Education
Rivera attended the University of Mobile, and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Rivera attended the University of Mobile, and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Rivera was selected off waivers by the New York Mets after the 2001 season. In July 2002, the Mets sent Rivera to the Montreal Expos as the player to be named later for a trade executed in April. In June 2004, the Expos traded Rivera to the Milwaukee Brewers with Peter Bergeron for Jason Childers and Jason Belcher.
Following the 2004 season, he signed with the Washington Nationals.
Rivera made his MLB debut on May 25, 2006, for the Washington Nationals against the Houston Astros. In that game, he got his first hold, pitching 2/3 of an inning.
He struck out one and walked one. He had been called up from Triple-A New Orleans on May 22, 2006.
He finished his rookie season with a 3.43 European Research Area. He struck out 41 and walked 32.
In 2007, he only allowed one home run in 93 innings pitched. On December 7, 2009, Rivera was released by the Nationals to make room on the 40-man roster for Brian Bruney. Rivera signed a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training with the Cleveland Indians on December 21, 2009.
On August 22, 2010, Rivera re-signed with the Cleveland Indians, and was assigned to Triple-A Columbus the following day.
Rivera signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in 2012.