The Brewers have signed 34-year old righty swinging catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league deal. Rivera played in 7 games for the Marlins last season and he was 0 for 14 (.000 avg, .176 OPS). Rivera has now played in 188 games in his 8 years in the majors and he is 129 of 542 (.238 avg, .674 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 13 homers, 69 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. His best years came with the Brewers from 2006-2009. Rivera played in 119 games for the Brewers in those years and he was 86 of 331 (.260 avg, .756 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 11 homers, 55 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Rivera will try to win the job as the back up catcher for the Brewers in 2011 next spring.

The Milwaukee Brewers have declined manager Ken Macha’s option for 2011. The Brewers were 77-85 (47.5%) this year which had them in 3rd place in the N.L. Central, 14 games behind the Reds. Macha was 157-167 (48.5%) in his two years with the Brewers. He has a major league record in six years as a manager of 525-447 (54%) during the regular season and he is 5-7 (41.7%) in the post season. It will be interesting to see who will be the new manager as I think Macha was a scapegoat despite having a weak pitching staff.