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Rene Rivera welcomes new teammate to San Diego, is immediately traded
The unpredictable nature of baseball's offseason struck again on Wednesday, resulting in what would best be described as an awkward tweet from veteran catcher Rene Rivera.
Like any good teammate, Rivera went out of his way to welcome free-agent pitcher Brandon Morrow to the San Diego Padres after he inked a deal with team on Tuesday.
@2Morrow23 good to have you in the team! Excited to work with you! Welcome to the @Padres
— Rene Rivera (@ReneRivera13) December 17, 2014
The awkward part? Just as Rivera was welcoming his new teammate to town, he became a new teammate himself. New Padres general manager A.J. Preller continued his aggressive offseason, shipping Rene Rivera to the Tampa Bay Rays as a part of the three-team, 11-player deal that included the Washington Nationals and was highlighted by Wil Myers going to the Padres.
#Rays deal in place, per medicals, players being notified. Keys: Myers + Hanigan to #Padres, get Souza from #Nats, Rivera plus from #Padres
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 17, 2014
Hello, good-bye and...
“@ReneRivera13: @2Morrow23 good to have you in the team! Excited to work with you! Welcome to the @Padres” Awkward...
— Ryan Cohen (@RyanCohen24) December 17, 2014
That about covers it.
San Diego also agreed to trade catcher Yasmani Grandal to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Matt Kemp deal, so they're essentially starting over at the position in 2015. Veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan was brought over from Tampa, so he figures to get a crack at catching Morrow and San Diego's other pitchers. Top prospect Austin Hedges should be in the mix as well.
As for Rivera, he's moving on to his seventh organization in 13 professional seasons, but the memories of his extremely short partnership with Morrow will live forever in the hearts of baseball fans.
@realericsachs fastest work relationship in history, lol
— Rich Keen (@rich_keen) December 17, 2014
@ReneRivera13 @2Morrow23 @Padres You two worked very well together!
— Eric Sachs (@realericsachs) December 17, 2014
Quick, somebody please welcome Rivera to Tampa before this gets out of hand!
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
