Rangers Decide to Give Rivera a Job

It didn’t take long for Ruben Rivera to get another chance to play in the majors.

Rivera, who lost his job with the New York Yankees after stealing Derek Jeter’s glove and bat, signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Rivera was released March 11 by the Yankees after stealing the equipment from the locker of his teammate and selling them to a memorabilia dealer.

The Rangers brought Rivera to their minor league camp in Florida on March 24 with intentions of giving him a 10-day tryout. It took only a week before the Rangers decided to sign him.

Club spokesman John Blake said Rivera, 28, will start the season with Tulsa, Texas’ affiliate in the double-A Texas League.

“The report from our people is they like what they had seen on the field and off the field,” Ranger General Manager John Hart said. “We have talked to him and have support people who will be in place to work with him daily in Tulsa.”

Once one of the most promising prospects in baseball, Rivera has spent parts of five seasons in the major leagues with the Yankees, San Diego and Cincinnati. In 562 games, he has a batting average of .218 with 58 home runs and 185 RBIs.

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The Baltimore Orioles put left fielder Marty Cordova, who has a strained right quadriceps, on the 15-day disabled list. The move was made retroactive to March 28, a day after he sustained the injury during a spring training game. He is eligible to rejoin the active roster on April 12.