Dioner Navarro Wants Blue Jays to Trade Him?

Well, the Blue Jays just introduced their $82M man Russell Martin. All were smiling and beaming. Yes, everything is pretty good in Blue Jay land. Or, is it? Jon Heyman is suggesting that some are not so happy. Well, one person anyway. With Martin taking the full time catcher’s job, Dioner Navarro seems to be left out in the cold.

As such, Heyman is reporting the Navarro has “expressed an interest in being dealt”. Heyman does not state in what context or conversation Navarro would have made such a statement. So, readers may want to refrain from jumping on the “Navarro is unhappy and there will be clubhouse drama if he is still on the team in 2015” bandwagon. Until Navarro himself comes out and says “I want them to trade me” on his own, we can only take this with the same grain we take all rumors.

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The Blue Jays are prepared to offer Navarro, what is in their eyes, plenty of playing time with the DH spot as well as catching. But, that apparently, that is not what Navarro has in mind for himself.

But, it does seem likely that Navarro would be taken by surprise by this move. Firstly, there are other, bigger holes to fill on this team. Left field is a major question, even with Torii Hunter rumors. Second base cannot be considered solved with the acquisition of Devon Travis. Since 2nd base is not solved, that also means that 3rd is still in question. Al of these issues, along with the bullpen issues, means that catcher was far down on the list of issues to be solved.

And, why shouldn’t it be low on the list? After not playing a full season (115+ games) since 2009, Navarro came to Toronto with aims at impressing and showing the world that his luck in Chicago was no fluke. And, he did just that. He had a very big turnaround year for him hitting .274 with 12 Hr and 69 RBI. He had some very clutch performances this season all while handling the everyday catching job. He definitely earned his low $3M salary in 2014 just on his offense alone.

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The issue that the Blue Jays obviously felt needed addressing was the defensive side of the game. The first obvious issue is Navarro’s throwing out a mere 21% of base runners. It got to the point where it seemed like a genuine surprise when I saw Navarro throw out a would be base thief. But, what the Blue Jays may be putting more stock in is the pitch framing and handling of young pitchers. One could say that Navarro was more of a target where Martin is more like an airport runway employee standing waiving his lights to guide each pitch into its designated landing spot. And, should the pitch not make it, Martin has the ability to make it look like it did anyway, which adds strikes to his pitcher.

As well, Martin is being touted as a leader and clubhouse guy. While watching from my couch, I can’t recall a situation where Navarro interacted with his team mates with more than a nod or a high five. With talk of a divided clubhouse, the Blue Jays are going to need a more active member both on the field and behind closed doors.

It goes without saying that Navarro really needn’t ask to be traded. There is no doubt that with the signing of Russell Martin, Alex Anthopoulos would be working the phones. Is he really going to carry 3 catchers? It would appear that Thole gets a nod because of R.A. Dickey‘s insistence…assuming they’re around in the spring. So, Navarro is superfluous.

With the many rumored teams being “in” on Martin, the Blue Jays GM certainly has a list from which he can start his search for a dance partner. And, with a VERY reasonable $5M price tag, Dioner Navarro just may get his wish.