The Phillies announced on Friday that outfielder/first baseman Daniel Nava has been activated from the disabled list. The 34-year-old Nava missed nearly two weeks with a lower back strain.
While the activation of a veteran role player from the disabled list isn’t necessarily significant in a vacuum, Nava’s return stands out a bit more due to his status as a fairly straightforward trade candidate for the Phillies. Prior to landing on the DL, Nava ranked near the top of MLBTR’s weekly ranking of August trade candidates owing to his affordable $1.35MM salary and his solid .298/.390/.427 batting line through 200 plate appearances.
Nava will now have at least a few days to demonstrate his health to contenders seeking a veteran bench bat for the stretch run. While he won’t command a significant return, the switch-hitter’s .347/.427/.492 slash through 143 plate appearances from the left side of the plate ought to hold some level of allure for clubs looking to round out a roster down the stretch and into the postseason. Nava holds a career .281/.374/.405 batting line as a left-handed hitter, though he has posted fairly weak numbers as a right-handed hitter both in 2017 and throughout his career.
Nava will earn only another $273K through the end of the season, so his salary shouldn’t be difficult to fit for many teams. While any acquisition requires a 40-man spot, clubs won’t need to worry much about active roster space with September about a week away. A niche player such as Nava can have added value, in the right circumstances, at this stage of the season — when active roster limitations go out the window and every edge is needed to eke out wins.
Hopefully we can trade him within the next week. I’d be cool with an unfinished product in A ball.
Yankees and Cleveland make some level of sense. Give us like Mandy Alvarez or Sean Brady or something
Yankees bringing Greg Bird back today (Saturday). They need to give him four or five days to see if he can fill the lefty hitting void. So there may not be time to look at Nava before months end.