Rivera was signed by the New York Yankees in. He made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Yankees in 1992 and his major league debut with the Yankees on September 3, 1995. Rivera was highly touted as a prospect, being ranked as high as second overall amongst prospects by Baseball America in 1995, third in 1996, and ninth in 1997. He played in 46 games for the 1996 New York Yankees. Though he was added to the postseason roster, Rivera only appeared in the 1996 American League Division Series during the 1996 postseason.
On April 22,, he was traded with pitcherRafael Medina and US $3 million to the San Diego Padres for infielderHomer Bush and minor leaguer Gordon Amerson and two players to be named later, who turned out to be the highly anticipated Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu and minor leaguer Vernon Maxwell. It was supposed to be a deal to help both teams, but Irabu was a major disappointment for the Yankees, and Rivera turned out to be at least a minor disappointment for the Padres, as he was never able to get on base on a regular basis during his four seasons in the Padres organization, mostly with the parent team, and his considerable power did not sufficiently compensate for that major failing. He was released shortly before the 2001 season.
The Cincinnati Reds signed Rivera for the 2001 season, but he did not perform any better for the Reds in a reserve role than he did the Padres. They waived him after the season, and the San Francisco Giants picked him up, but released him a month later without his having played a game for them. Early in, the Yankees signed him as a free agent, but released him during spring training after Rivera took teammate Derek Jeter's glove and bat, and then sold them to a sports memorabilia dealer, reportedly for $2,500. After this became known, his teammates allegedly voted him off the team, and the Yankees released him. When the incident became public, Rivera apologized but criticized the team after being removed. The Texas Rangers signed him for the 2002 season. He performed poorly for them in a reserve role and was released immediately following the season. In 2003, Rivera re-joined the Giants as a free agent. He was involved in an infamous baserunning gaffe in a 13-inning 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Pacific Bell Park on May 27. Representing the potential winning run as a pinch runner for Andrés Galarraga at first base with a 2-2 score and one out, Rivera advanced to second base but reversed course two steps beyond it thinking that the ball hit by Marquis Grissom to deep right-center field was caught by right fielderDavid Dellucci. Realizing that Dellucci had muffed the ball for an error, he ran past second base, returned to retouch it, headed to third and attempted to score when second baseman Junior Spivey's relay throw bounced off third baseman Alex Cintrón's glove and towards shortstopTony Womack, who threw out the sliding Rivera at home plate. Rivera's actions were proclaimed by Giants broadcaster Jon Miller as "the worst baserunning in the history of the game." Rivera was released a week later, after hitting only.180 in 50 at bats. Rivera signed with the Baltimore Orioles in July 2003, and played for them in the minors. The Chicago White Sox signed Rivera to play for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights for, where despite hitting 16 home runs, he batted only.239.
