Difelice coming back

An original Ray will get the chance to rejoin the team.
Catcher Mike Difelice, 38, has agreed to terms on a minor-league contract and will come to spring training to compete for a job.
"I know where they're trying to get to,'' Difelice said Sunday. "I wanted to be part of it and I still want to be.''
Difelice spent most of the last four seasons at the Triple-A level, playing only 59 major-league games. The Rays have three young catchers on their roster - Dioner Navarro, Shawn Riggans and John Jaso - and could use the veteran presence and experience Difelice would bring.

Comments

[Sean]

See Sean, I am in no way a Navarro fan, but at the same time. He had a very solid second half I am willing to give him a chance this season. We can always trade for a catcher if he is garbage but why trade away a piece of the puzzle when this guy might just be pretty alright this year. Kazmir struggled last season before the all star break as well and put up a good second half maybe we should trade him too? I mean he is 5'10" a 180 that is no good for a pitcher. The guy is 23 years old playing one of the toughest spots on the field.

Raysfan,

Everybody wants to sign Pena to a monster deal after 1 good season, Navarro puts up a very good second half and people just want to trade him. Do you think Pena can keep it up? IF so what are your reasons? Pena is 28 and put up a year that NOBODY could have predicted, yet we are supposed to give him 3/30 million? Let him prove it. Just like Navarro needs to prove it this year. Navarro earned a right to atleast show it was no fluke

Does anybody remember Toby Hall??? With the exception of Flaherty we have always had a fat catcher behind the plate. Sports Illustrated did a poll on who was the slowest player in the league and guess who was #1? Toby Hall so why is his weight a big deal?

[Dave Navarro]

I was married to Carmen Electra. And I play guitar.

[Sean Navarro]

Did I mention that my broth.... uhhh, that guy Navarro has a .500 batting average when the count is 3-1???
That guy is a HOF'er in the making!

Rumor has it that he'll even get his weight down to 235 by spring training ... not too shabby for a guy that's 5' 8-and change!!!

[raysfan]

sean: granted, but do you think he can keep it up? i wonder about that.

i think sometimes he's not very motivated to do so because he's all but assured a #1 starter's job at catcher with no real competition at the moment (shawn riggans is not good enough to be a threat). plus i think individual players are lulled into mediocrity by virtue of being on an awful team. some of that is on maddon -- he needs to fire these guys up. gomes is a good example of somebody who plays with intensity.

[Sean]

These are the numbers these players pu up at the age of 23

Jorge Posada — .255/.351/.435 in AAA with just 8 home runs
Mike Piazza — .232/.284/.319 in 69 big league at bats
Jason Varitek — .224/.339/.361 in AA with 10 home runs
Russell Martin — .282/.355/.436

Now, compare those numbers to Navarro post-All Star Break in 2007: .285/.340/.475

He manages one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. Yes he has alot of passed balls but he gets alot more chances then everyone else also. How many 23 year olds are in the majors? How many of those 23 year olds are catchers? I know there are alot of young starting catchers in this league nowadays but .285 is very solid for a catcher. Delmon hit .293 while Navarro ended with .247. With a terrible first hald he only finished .050 points below Delmon and post all star he only was .008 point below Delmon . He also had more HR’s and only 16 fewer Rbi’s. Delmon played in 162 games last season and for most of the year batted behind Crawford, Pena, Iwamura, and Upton. That left Navarro batting most of the time behind Harris, Gomes, Wilson, or Norton. His Season was not as bad as people give him credit for. He really turned it around in the second half.

[raysfan]

anybody will be better than dioner. he doesn't exactly strike me as being "smart" enough to call a good game. nor can he hit. so yeah, bring back the aging retreads, or whatever you want to call them. navarro had a nice second half last year but i don't have very high expectations for him.

[ryan callahan]

I mean he would have an impact in single A.

[Ron]

This is great. What other old, tired retreads can we sign for the league minimum? Maybe Kevin Stocker or Paul Sorrento are ready to come back.

[ryan callahan]

im not big fans of riggans or navarro, and i think jaso should start the year in AAA, so i think difelice could have an impact this season.

[ed]

FYI...check out this piece on Young/Dukes. It's a fair point that lack of veterans may have hurt Dukes. But come on.

http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2008/01/07/da-meat-hook-hoping-to-turn-dukes-deal-into-a-fleece-for-the-nats/