Dodgers close to bringing back Dioner Navarro

The remote possibility that Russell Martin would return to the Dodgers became almost non-existent on Wednesday, as the team closed in on a deal with free-agent catcher Dioner Navarro. 

Navarro, 26, was traded by the Dodgers to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006, when Martin established himself as the team’s catcher. Like Martin, Navarro became a free agent last week when the Rays declined to tender him a contract. He left the Rays when he was excluded from their postseason roster.

A career .249 hitter, Navarro batted .194 in 48 games last season. 

Martin’s agent has met with multiple clubs at the winter meetings and has received at least one offer from a team that isn’t the Dodgers. 

-- Dylan Hernandez in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

 

Comments

[kjp]

Good Lord. I hope he's just passing through on his way to somewhere else.

Navarro is one of the numberless bad jokes played on the Dodgers during the era of The Fountainhead. The Fountainhead, you may recall, assured us that Navarro was a future Hall of Famer. But, as it developed, Navarro is only sporadically capable of hitting or catching the baseball.

He also has a 'tude problem: when the Rays left him off the playoff roster, he threw a fit and went home. I guess it was a complete mystery to him, why the Rays wouldn't carry into the playoffs someone who hit .194 while declining to go after any baseballs that were not thrown within 2 inches of his mitt.

[skyharbor]

Good move Ned!! Navarro meets all three requirements.....CHEAP...CHEAP...CHEAP.

[Tony Gwynn JR]

I don't understand this signing either.

[HI Dodger Fan]

you've got to be kidding me. so aj ellis is essentially written off this team too, just like xavier paul. does ned somehow think that guys like ellis, paul and our other prospects were somehow responsible for our dismal season last year? 'cause ned is sure making it almost impossible for them to do anything other than leave the organization. why in the world would he bring in navarro? he's done absolutely nothing since he left the dodgers and, almost impossibly, hit worse than tony gwynn, jr. last year. if i have this straight, ned conceivably wants mattingly to field a lineup that could look like this:

navarro (sub. 200 BA)
loney
uribe (sub .300 OBP)
castro (good field, no hit for his entire career)
blake (sub .250 BA and rapidly declining)
gwynn (good field, no hit)
kemp
ethier
pitcher

basically, 6 spots in the lineup can't hit at all. and if you put the starters in, gibbons, furcal and barajas, only furcal is really an established offensive upgrade. i guess when ned said he's going to rely on the foundation, he meant it. he's succeeded in getting absolutely no help for them at any other position on the field. what is this team coming to?

[booch]

good lord again.
will this team get any hits next year?

[Steve Careeta]

This gives A.J.Ellis the chance to show the blue crew that he can stand out from Barajas and Navarro's shadow. If I were A.J.
spring training provides him the opportunity that only can he hit and play defense but demonstrate his blue collar work ethic. I hope that Mattingly gives A.J. a long look.

[DodgerBlues]

Fits the mold Ned is looking for: can't hit, can't field and basically useless. Should make a 10year- $100M contract offer right now!

[DodgerBlues]

And while I' m at it. I'm sick of this mediocre team. Why sign 7 decent guys too much when you can sign 1 REALLY good guy and 5 decent guys and fill some spots from within?

Cliff Leee (probably 20-22M/year) = Lilly + Kuroda. Don' tell me having Lilly and Kuroda makes the team better than having one Cliff Lee.

Instead of:

Kershaw, Billingsly, Kuroda, Lilly, Garland, Padilla.

We have:

Lee, Kershaw, Billingsly, Garland, Padilla (and who cares as the swingman: Maybe Ely)

All the Dodgers do is sign guys that will make them a .500 ballclub. I'm sick of hearing how they need pitching and more pitching. When they sign 4 so-so guys to too much money when they can have one guy that is awesome for the going market rate. If the Dodgers didnt have Vin Scully, I swear I would have no desire to watch them.

[waus]

Back-to-back mind numbingly stupid moves by Ned.

First, Gwynn JR!

Now, a has been retread when A.J. showed very nice signs of progress in September.

Ellis could hit .750 during spring training next year and it won't matter.

Sorry to borrow this from Top Gun, but, Ned.......you stink.

[Dodger Tony]

The upshot of all of this is that they were unable to come to terms with Pierzynski, who apparently was 15 minutes away from signing with the Blue before the White Sox stopped playing chicken with him. But there is a much larger irony here: the return of the prodigal son and the loss of the son who replaced him. That is the big story.

This should make a very interesting last season of McCourt, Colletti, et al...before Cuban and whomever starts a Dodger TV channel and the long awaited superteam is born.

[alanw19]

why?

[neoncactus]

Because Cliff Lee for 7 years, which is where the Yankees supposedly are at right now, has a very good chance of becoming another Barry Zito. The Yankees would easily pay him $25 million per season if they have to. The problem the Dodgers had last season wasn't their starting pitching and won't be this year.

In a postseason series, I'm fine putting Kershaw up against the aces of other teams. He outpitched Ubaldo Jimenez when no other team could beat him. They need to spend money and get better hitters, and should be looking at Magglio Ordonez instead of Tony Gwynn Jr.

[KoufaxFan]

Throw another on McCrap's pile of crap--the Disgraced Dodgers live on...