While the Venezuelan is batting just.210 with six home runs and 32 RBIs in 85 games this season, Atkins said the team’s familiarity with Navarro is part of the reason he was eager to bring him back as Toronto continues its push for a second straight post-season berth.
Advertisement
Less than an hour later, Sox general manager Rick Hahn informed Navarro that he had been traded.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Navarro was excited by the opportunity to reunite with his former team. “When I was explaining to him he had been traded he started typing in, ‘Yeah, I just heard something, ‘” Hahn said.
He’s batting.236 with three home runs and six RBIs in 41 games for the Sox this season.
“You can obviously see from the numbers he has done impressive work against righties for a left-handed reliever, which is nice to see”, Hahn said.
With the rosters expected to expand once September comes around, Navarro’s arrival could still let Josh Thole, who is R.A. Dickey’s personal catcher, stick around, meaning Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro will split time behind the plate for the rest of the season between the pitchers not named R.A. Dickey.
“This should be a boost of energy for him coming into a contender”, he added.
Toronto entered play Friday tied with Boston atop the AL East.
Navarro likely will not join the Blue Jays until Monday when they begin a series in Baltimore against the Orioles. Josh Thole, now Toronto’s back-up catcher, will catch Sunday with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on the mound.
“It’s been a really high and a really low roller coaster”, he said in early July. “Every day we’ll look to make this team better, but there’s nothing imminent”.
As Navarro departs, the White Sox are ready to activate catcher Alex Avila off the disabled list.
Advertisement
Turner is 3-1 with a 1.33 earned-run average in 44 relief appearances this year between three minor league levels, including double-A New Hampshire.
