Red Sox Notes: Navarro, Youkilis, Payroll

Here are a few items about the World Series champs…

• Dioner Navarro is thought to have "drawn initial interest from the Red Sox," Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports.  The switch-hitting catcher hit a career-best .300/.365/.492 in 266 PA with the Cubs last season, doing most of his damage against left-handed pitching.  Navarro is just one of several catching options the Sox are considering, from Brian McCann or A.J. Pierzynski to re-signing Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
• There doesn't seem to be much, if any, chance of a Kevin Youkilis return to Boston, MLB.com's Ian Browne writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Browne also addresses such topics as the length of a possible Mike Napoli contract and the Sox acquiring a veteran backup for the left side of the infield.
• The Red Sox figure to have around $20-$25MM in spending room this offseason, CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam calculates, though the club could free up more space by trading a veteran starter like Jake Peavy, John Lackey or Ryan Dempster.  As I wrote in my Offseason Outlook piece about the Red Sox, the team has lots of payroll flexibility both this winter and for future years.