Braves select righty Rivero in Rule 5 Draft

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Looking to further add to their impressive bullpen depth, the Braves selected right-handed reliever Armando Rivero from the Cubs’ organization during the Major League phase of Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft, which concluded this year’s Winter Meetings.

Rivero had a 2.13 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 35 walks in 67 2/3 innings for Triple-A Iowa this past season. The 28-year-old Cuban’s 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings led all Minor Leaguers who completed at least 65 innings.

• 2016 Rule 5 Draft results

“He’s a guy we liked from the very start,” Braves general manager John Coppolella said. “We have some history with him in Cuba through our foreign scouting, and we had some familiarity with him with our scouts.”

To create a 40-man roster spot in order to make this selection, the Braves released right-handed pitcher Williams Perez just before the start of the Rule 5 Draft. Perez showed some promise while occasionally filling a spot in Atlanta’s rotation over his past two injury-marred seasons, but his value within Atlanta’s system has been adversely affected by this offseason’s activity (additions of Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and …

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