A B737 HAD A R REVERSER DEFERRED AS INOP PER THE MEL. THIS ITEM 'TIMED OUT' AND HAD TO BE FIXED PRIOR TO DEP. ITEM CLEARED AS REPAIRED AND OPERATIONAL CHK OK. R REVERSER SUBSEQUENTLY FAILED ON TAXI OUT.

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INBOUND TO ZZZ1 FROM ZZZ2; I RETRIEVED THE PAPERS FOR THE FLT WHICH INCLUDED THE MAINT HISTORY AND CURRENT MEL CARDS FOR ACR X. WE WERE SCHEDULED TO PICK UP ACR X IN ZZZ1 AND FLY IT TO ZZZ3 AND ZZZ4. THE MAINT HISTORY INCLUDED GRIPES ON THE R ENG REVERSER AND THE CURRENT MAINT RELEASE INDICATED THAT REVERSER SYSTEM WAS INOP. THE MAINT RELEASE; HOWEVER; SEEMED TO STATE THAT THE ACFT WAS IN FURTHER NEED OF INSPECTION BEFORE IT COULD BE DISPATCHED WITH THE DEFERRAL. I QUERIED THE DISPATCHER ABOUT THIS VIA ACARS; AND RECEIVED A MESSAGE INDICATING THAT THINGS WERE UNCERTAIN. ONCE ON THE GND IN ZZZ1; I WAS TOLD THAT ACR X HAD 'TIMED OUT' ON THIS DEFERRAL AND WOULD HAVE TO BE REPAIRED BEFORE IT COULD BE DISPATCHED. WE WERE TOLD TO EXPECT AN ACFT CHANGE AT FIRST; BUT SUBSEQUENTLY ADVISED THAT ACR X WOULD BE TAKEN TO THE HANGAR; REPAIRED; AND BROUGHT BACK IN ABOUT AN HOUR. THIS SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE. ONE HOUR LATER; ACR X IS RETURNED TO THE GATE WITH NO NEW MAINT RELEASE. I HAD TO CONTACT THE OPS MANAGER TO OBTAIN ASSISTANCE FROM MAINT IN DETERMINING THE STATUS OF THE ACFT. HE ULTIMATELY HAD A MECHANIC COME TO THE ACFT; AND HE THEN ADVISED ME THAT A NEW MAINT RELEASE WAS FORTHCOMING. UPON RECEIPT OF THE NEW MAINT RELEASE; IT WAS STILL VERY UNCLEAR TO ME THAT WE HAD AN AIRWORTHY ACFT. I CALLED OUR DISPATCHER AND HAD HIM PATCH IN MAINT. THE MAINT CTLR TOOK ME THROUGH THE MAINT HISTORY AND EXPLAINED THAT THE ACFT WAS REPAIRED; THE REVERSER OPERATIONAL; AND THAT ALL THE PAPERWORK WAS IN ORDER. I TAXIED OFF OF THE GATE TO RWY 32L. IN ORDER TO SATISFY MY OWN SAFETY REQUIREMENTS; JUST PRIOR TO TAKING THE RWY; I CYCLED BOTH THE L AND R ENG REVERSERS. THE R REVERSER FAULT LIGHT ILLUMINATED; THE REVERSE LEVER JAMMED; AND THE R REVERSER UNLOCKED LIGHT ILLUMINATED. UPON RETURN TO THE GATE; A VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE R ENG REVEALED THE INBOARD REVERSER SLEEVE PHYSICALLY JAMMED IN A PARTIALLY OPENED STATE; AND THE R ENG OUTBOARD REVERSER SLEEVE JAMMED IN THE CLOSED POSITION. THE MECHANICS THAT BEGIN MAKING THE INSPECTION STATED THAT THERE WERE BROKEN PARTS IN THE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY. I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW THIS ACFT WAS REPAIRED PRIOR TO OUR DEP AND IT CERTAINLY COULDN'T HAVE BEEN TESTED PRIOR TO MY DECISION TO DO SO (DESPITE WHAT THE DOCUMENTS ATTEST TO).CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT WHEN HE RECEIVED WORD THAT THE SCHEDULED AIRPLANE WAS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE GATE AND WAS GOING TO THE HANGAR TO BE REPAIRED AND RETURNED IN AN HOUR; THE INFO WAS RECEIVED BY THE RPTR WITH DISBELIEF; AS IT TAKES 30 TO 40 MINUTES TO TAXI FROM THE TERMINAL TO THE HANGAR WITH RWY CROSSINGS AND TFC DELAYS. WORKING A REVERSER DEFERRED ITEM WOULD TAKE MORE TIME AND THEN THE TAXI BACK TO THE TERMINAL WOULD TAKE HOURS. WITHIN ONE HOUR THE AIRPLANE WAS BACK ON THE GATE WITH THE REVERSER DEFERRED ITEM CLEARED AND OPERATIONAL CHK ALLEGEDLY ACCOMPLISHED. THE MAINT RELEASE NEEDED SOME EXPLANATION AND THE MAINT CTLR WALKED THE RPTR THROUGH THE DOCUMENT TO THE RPTR'S SATISFACTION. ON TAXI OUT; THE RPTR CHKED THE R REVERSER AND IT FAILED WITH THE INBOUND REVERSER SLEEVE JAMMED PARTIALLY OPEN AND THE OUTBOARD STUCK IN THE CLOSED POSITION.