The Pirates have released outfielder Daniel Nava, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The 35-year-old veteran signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last month but his chances of winning a job dimmed after the Pirate acquired Corey Dickerson. If the roster crunch wasn’t enough, Nava underwent back surgery in late February, sidelining him for a projected 10-to-12 weeks.
This might not be the end of Nava’s days in Pittsburgh, however, as Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters (including Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that he hopes to re-sign Nava to a new deal “to continue his rehab and hopefully help our Major League club later this summer.” A reunion certainly seems possible, as Nava might prefer to take a new contract now rather than wait until he is healthy to explore options with other teams.
Whatever the scenario, the outfielder will surely draw some interest given his strong track record against right-handed pitching. The switch-hitting Nava owns a .281/.374/.404 slash line in 1541 career plate appearances against righties, and he enjoyed a solid (albeit injury-shortened) season with the Phillies in 2017. Nava hit .301/.393/.421 in 214 PA for the Phils, reviving his career after struggling through lackluster years in 2015-16.
Making room for Cobb for when he fails his O’s physical.
Sorry, I had to
True
Good luck Daniel. Hope you rehab and make it back. Your the best dollar purchase ever. I still get good vibes watching your MLB first pitch seen grand slam.
I felt bad when I heard about the need for his back surgery.I always thought that this guy was a pretty good hitter,and thought he would have made a good platoon partner with Sean Rodriguez in left field before they got Corey Dickerson.I hope it works out for him as I think that he still had something left but my guess is that this is a tricky injury that may make it difficult to come back to his previous hitting ability.
Back to Boston?
I’d like to seem him there as a minor league coach/manager when his playing days are over. Kotchman won’t be around forever for instance at the GCL Sox, he’s managed in the minors for over 30y. Maybe a replacement there for instance.
Can see him going to the Padres with Dickerson out for the season now.
but Nava is also on the DL, so him signing with the Padres doesn’t make sense
Forgot about that
I remember his first MLB AB. Grand slam. Acquired from an independent league team for a bag of balls. My memory is not great but thats what it says
$1 doesn’t even buy you a single ball nowadays. That is getting a bang for your buck!
how bad do you have to be to get released by the pirates?
Back surgery will do that to a guy!