Rivera Released After Accusations of Theft

A baseball player’s locker is a sacred place--one private place in his very public world. Ruben Rivera learned that invading that sanctum can be a very serious offense.

Once one of the most promising prospects in baseball, Rivera was put on unconditional release waivers by the New York Yankees after being accused of taking a bat and glove from teammate Derek Jeter’s locker.

“That type of thing is a shock,” Manager Joe Torre said Tuesday. “It’s sad. It’s unfortunate.”

None of the Yankee players or officials would publicly say why Rivera was cut. But a baseball lawyer familiar with the decision, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rivera took the equipment from Jeter’s locker and sold it to a sports memorabilia agent.

Rivera later returned the glove and bat, which he reportedly sold for $2,500.

He signed a $1-million, one-year guaranteed contract with the Yankees last month, but the team negotiated a $200,000 settlement Monday, the source said.

Rivera refused to comment on Monday night before leaving the team and his agents also declined comment.

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Baseball management is putting restrictions on the debt teams can take on, a move that could provoke an angry response from the players’ union or even force trades of high-salaried stars.

Commissioner Bud Selig, in a March 7 letter sent to teams, said they have until June to get in compliance with the rules, which say a team can’t have debt higher than 40% of its asset value.

“The reason it wasn’t enforced for a while was the economic fallout from the 1995 strike,” Selig said Tuesday night. “I wrote this rule in 1975. I’m the father of the rule. The clubs have known for a long time that I was going to enforce it.”

The union is concerned that restrictions on debt could lower the amount of money teams have to spend on player salaries.

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Chicago Cub President Andy MacPhail was selected by Selig to join management’s labor bargaining committee.

Selig said he will add another team official to the negotiating committee within a few weeks.

McPhail’s father, former American League president Lee MacPhail, was the owners’ chief negotiator during the 1995 labor talks.

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