The Rays have claimed outfielder Daniel Nava off waivers from the Red Sox, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Boston had designated the 32-year-old for assignment on July 30th.
Nava has spent most of his time in the corner outfield, though he also has appeared some at first base. The switch-hitter has been much more productive against right-handed pitching in his career, and it seems he could step into the role of just-traded outfielder David DeJesus.
Tampa Bay is placing a good bit of trust in a turn-around from Nava, as the club will owe him the balance of a $1.85MM salary (around $617K) for the rest of the year. Nava can also be controlled for two more years via arbitration, and probably won’t be in line for a significant raise.
Of course, the reason that Nava was available in the first place is that he’s scuffled badly this year while also dealing with injuries. He’s registered just ten hits, and no home runs, in 78 MLB plate appearances. Nava was already coming off of a less-than-inspiring 2014 campaign, when he saw his power output dip following an excellent 2013 (.303/.385/.445), though defensive metrics thought he had improved significantly in his outfield defense.
I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.
– Red Sox fan
Agreed. Love his story and his perseverance to get to the Ml.
Yeah. Going from not making his college team to un-drafted free agent to solid contributor on a World Series team. He’s just the kinda person most of us are wishing will succeed. I’ll miss the guy and wish him all the luck in the world.
That’s funny because as a Rays fan, I like it. I still wish the Rays would have swung a trade for Bruce or Reddick at the deadline, but Nava at no cost is a nice fall back option. If he can find his stroke again against LHP, he is a cheap platoon option for the next couple of years.
Sorry, meant to say find his stroke against RHP.
Nearly any other team I’d be like, well I hope he can figure it back out. But not the Rays, come onnn D:
Wish Nava the best of luck. Maybe he can find some consistency with the Rays because waiting 50 games a season for the last two seasons for him to find his stroke has been pretty difficult. It was fine last season when he had options, but two years in a row is a bit much.
If the Red Sox weren’t overloaded on position players especially outfielders he could get more at bats. It can be hard to stay consistent in a high pressure market like Boston when you have to compete with high priced veterans and highly rated prospects for play time, not to mention the expectations.
Yes but that was not the case last season and he came out of the gate hitting .149 in 17 games in the month of April. He did the same thing this year. Talk about pressure and a lack of playing time if you want, but he looks like he’s just a slow starter.
That 2013 year was just a golden time–everything came together, just about every move worked, lots of career years, great contributions from marginal but useful player. Tells you how important coincidence and luck is in baseball.
Any minute now… any minute now…. Breslow designated for assignment.
so they traded david dejesus, and get nava. same thing no?
Saved $$$, like the Rays tend to do
i know, that is what i was saying. marginal prospect as well.
The Rays get a younger, cheaper and more controlled version in Nava, plus the lottery ticket, rookie level prospect back in the DeJesus trade.
Taking on two years of team control and 1.85 mil in salary, Tampa must believe they can use this guy. I hope they can.
wish him the best. what a story he had with his red sox debut
Best of luck, Daniel. Red Sox Nation will miss you.