Something I had not known about, Rivera was unprotected by the Yankees during the 1992 expansion draft. The Marlins were set to select Rivera with their next pick, however the Rockies selected Brad Ausmus and the Yankees didn’t have to give up any more players. After Rivera had struggled through 1995, the Yankees considered trading him to Seattle for shortstop Felix Fermin, but Steinbrenner was finally convinced to hold onto RIvera and allow rookie shortstop Derek Jeter an opportunity to play. After the 1999 season, Rivera considered to retire and become a minister after 4 more seasons. He decided not to follow through with those plans, obviously. I can’t help but think that those Yankees teams would’ve looked a lot different without Rivera. Crazy to look back at how these decisions could have drastically changed the trajectory of that franchise during those years.