Before the playoffs began, it seemed unlikely that the Rays would need Dioner Navarro in 2011. The catcher’s chances of returning now appear even slimmer, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Navarro, who wasn’t on the postseason roster for the Division Series, told the Rays he was going home, even though the organization asked him to stay with the team and work out in case of an injury.
Navarro earned $2.1MM this year in his second season as an arbitration eligible player. He spent about a third of the year in the minors, partly because he hit just .194/.270/.258 and partly because of John Jaso’s emergence.
Jaso and Kelly Shoppach (already under contract for 2011) give the Rays two catchers, so they don’t need Navarro. The 26-year-old is just two seasons removed from an All-Star game selection, but he has shown little pop since.
The Dodgers, Marlins, Reds, Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox and Padres are among the teams that could be looking for catching depth this winter. At this point, Navarro is coming off of a second consecutive disappointing season and appears to be at odds with the Rays, so his trade value has dropped substantially. It appears likely that the Rays will instead non-tender Navarro this offseason.
Please Red Sox, do us a favor and pass on this scrub!
this is a Theo move waiting to happen. low risk,high reward….likely just on the AAA roster with some type of incentive for getting to the majors.
*mashes face into keyboard*
I remember him talking a big game in ’08 when they made it to the Word Series, then look what happened to him. I hope this doesn’t happen
There is a good chance it could but that will depend on what the player is willing to settle for in the end. He might just go tell Theo to shove his AAA offer fully expecting to find a starting job somewhere else.
Also,it might be incentive for him to try and stick it to the Rays in the end. He might just want to goto NYY or BOSTON to give the Rays the finger.
Also,it might be incentive for him to try and stick it to the Rays in the end. He might just want to goto NYY or BOSTON to give the Rays the finger.
While Navarro think he’s sticking it to the Rays, he’s really just hurting his chances of being signed by another team. No team likes a player with a bad attitude.
Career OPS of .666, not an elite defensive catcher, and obviously is a little sore about his current role. I hope you have fun having to take a back-up catcher job somewhere Dioner, because that’s exactly what you are.
A backup job may be generous at this point. He may have to take a minor league deal and rebuild his value in AAA even.
Bad decision. If one of the catchers gets injured in the playoffs it’s going to look even worse. He wasn’t going to play but going home is not the right thing to do, it only makes him look petty and immature. It’s not the Rays fault he didn’t make the post-season roster, it’s his and he obviously doesn’t recognize that. He’s hurting himself more than he’s hurting the Rays.
He’ll be lucky to get a non-guaranteed deal with the Pirates or something with this attitude. You’re working your way towards being AAA filler, friend.
The Pirates doesn’t even have room for this bum. Between Snyder and Doumit and the fact they’ve got their catcher of the future in the system already why would they bother on Navarro?
Yet, this even further proves your point. He’ll be lucky to land anywhere after a move like this. And there’s no way any team gives him a guaranteed deal. It’ll be minor league, hope you re-establish your value in AAA, and then maybe we’ll see.
sounds like you just need another reason to slam the pirates. aaron s. is right; pirates have snyder and sanchez in their system, will hopefully deal Doumit though.
Are you actually accusing someone of Anti-Pirates Bias? I cited them because they’ve been the MLB’s worst franchise for about a decade and a half. It’s not like I’m going out of my way to slam a team that is essentially irrelevant. No other team comes close to the collossal level of failure they’ve exhibited the last few decades, so I painted being their AAA bench warmer as being his best option because that’s the baseball equivelant of rock bottom.
What a baby! Go home and cry to mommy about how the Rays aren’t playing you enough. Career over in 5…4…3…2…
Princess Navarro is going home? Where is that…… Brett Favre’s basement?
The difference between some MLB players and us fans? None of us would scoff at the chance to make 2.1 mil and be able to sit in the dugout (or somewhere in the stands) and watch the playoffs with friends.
Also, apparently we also have more heart.
Scoff? Heck, I’d give up my kidney for the chance to ride pine for $2.1 million during the playoffs.
Getting paid to watch playoff baseball from the best seat in the house and have a chance to get a WS ring and support your teammates/friends. MAN UP!
I hope that if the Rays hand out rings for whatever happens in the end, HE DOES NOT GET ONE. He literally deserted his teammates.
So it is okay for a MLB team to discard a player when they don’t think he is useful anymore, or it is okay to have some poor shlub grind it out in the minors for 10 years before he is released, but it isn’t okay for a player to go home when he is told he isn’t going to be used?
Yes.
its part of the job ;)
Navarro should learn what a bad attitude has done to previous big leaguers such as Everett and Dukes : No MLB job and forced to play in the Indy leagues
Now go home and get your f’n shinebox.
You have to remember that everyone has their own obstacles to over come. For Dioner, his wife had a cerebral aneurysm from which she initially wasn’t expected to recover and his son had surgery for polycystic kidney disease. I’d like to think that he left the team to go spend time with his family while ride the pine as a 3rd string.
now i feel guilty of my last comment
You and everyone else on the thread with a soul.
…and for the rest of us?
Your mileage may vary.
…and for the rest of us?
If he had to go home and deal with family health issues that would be one thing. At least it would be a credible excuse. But it appears that those issues are not the reason that he elected to return home – it appears that he is just angry at not being on the 25-man playoff roster for the first round. The Rays asked him to stay in town in case one of their catchers is injured; every playoff team had to make some roster choices this week and there are some disappointed guys out there. But, Navarro essentially gave his teammates the finger. Not a good decision for a player who wants to remain in big leagues.
How do you know all that? Based on what this article says? Or are you close to the Navarro family?
Know what? I read the St. Petersburg TIMES piece and offered my opinion and my conclusions based on the article. I have never met Mr. Navarro or any of his family to my knowledge – but that doesn’t change anything.
That’s fine. You are entitled to your opinion and stated it in a very matter-of-fact and non-incendious way. I was more directing this train of thought towards those like haymaker9 and monkeyspanked who seem to write callous comments without deliberation to the subject.
And I get that just because Dioner is a good guy who has been through hardships doesn’t mean he’s a good baseball player and deserves a spot on the team. I’m just thinking that after all that guy has been through, he most likely didn’t choose to go home and pout over staying close to the team for a standby roster spot. There were other major factors involved.
Know what? I read the St. Petersburg TIMES piece and offered my opinion and my conclusions based on the article. I have never met Mr. Navarro or any of his family to my knowledge – but that doesn’t change anything.
You can read about some of his hardships at these two links:
sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-navarro083008
sptimes.com/2006/06/30/Rays/From_near_tragedy__an.…
The 2nd link has a picture of him, his wife and his baby.
It’s hard for me to think anything badly about a guy who has been through so much. However, baseball is baseball. He’s decent defensively but just can’t hit very well. Perhaps with his family is just where he needs to be right now. I know many of us would love to be in his position and watch from the sidelines but I’m sure its more complicated than that for him.
Hopefully he can turn his game around and hit. It’s not as if he”s developed a bad rep for bringing guns into a locker room over a game of cards… (Gilbert).
Yeah, I think there should be a note made of that.
I see a move to the Marlins here, one team not mentioned in posts yet, excet in the story above and with one catcher (Paulino) coming off a Dope suspension and the main Catcher (Baker) TJ surgery. Myself, would like to see Paulino flat out gone anyway and Navarro could back up the always hustling Baker next year.
hasnt Baker also been disciplined because of PED’s in his past?
Not aware of it if he was and just looked at his page on Fangraphs that goes over his history of injuries/suspensions dating back to his career start back in 2002 and no mention of it, not that it couldn’t have happened since I for one had never heard of him either until the Fish picked him up a a rescue project after the Fish got rid of him.
Paulino just does not offer much of anything as it is, besides a bit of power. he lacks mobility behind the plate, is due a raise on the 1M he just earned and Navarro can probably be gotten for less as a backup and without the PED baggage.
At least all the Yankees’ farm products are no longer producing insane numbers for the Rays. It hurts slightly less.
Navarro was a top prospect once. Thank god that prospect never played for us.
Navarro was a top prospect once. Thank god that prospect never played for us.
Add the Cardinals to the list of teams looking for catching depth after the retirement of backup Jason LaRue.
Add the Cardinals to the list of teams seeking catching depth after the retirement of backup Jason LaRue.
Navarro is the worst hitter in the game, now that Everett is out of MLB.
Nope, Andy LaRoche is. Just completely terrible.
What happened to Adam Everett? Being a FA means your out of the MLB?
Any team could have picked up Everett for a pro rated portion of the league minimum, or even signed him to a minor league contract, but nobody did so.
Navarro- .194 avg, .270 OBP, .258 Slg, .528 OPS
Lopez- .239 avg, .270 OBP, .339 Slg, .609 OPS
Betancourt .259 avg, .288 OBP, .405 Slg, .692 OPS
LaRoche- .206 avg, .268 OBP, .287 Slg, .555 OPS
Keep laughing.
Laughable. Clearly, you’ve never had the misfortune of watching Yuniesky Betancourt or Jose Lopez “hit”.
Navarro is the worst hitter in the game, now that Everett is out of MLB.
There is zero chance the Reds are looking for a catcher. Hanigan/Hernandez was one of the most effective duos in MLB. Not to mention Mesoraco and Grandal coming on fast
There is zero chance the Reds are looking for a catcher. Hanigan/Hernandez was one of the most effective duos in MLB. Not to mention Mesoraco and Grandal coming on fast