Dioner Navarro

Dioner Favian Navarro Vivas (born February 9, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

On August 21, 2000, Navarro was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent.

He made his professional debut in 2001 with the GCL Yankees, batting .280 in 43 games.

Three times during the season (June 19, July 9, and July 20), he drove in the sole run in a 1–0 victory, which only happened once before (Gary Sheffield in 2001) in Los Angeles Dodger history.

In 2002, Navarro split the season between the Single-A Greensboro Bats and the High-A Tampa Yankees, accumulating a .239/.327/.361 slash line with 8 home runs and 36 RBI.

In 2003, with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, he hit .341 in 58 games and was selected as the Yankees minor league player of the year and was the top-ranked prospect in the Yankees organization heading into 2004.

He was assigned to the Double-A Trenton Thunder to begin the 2004 season before receiving a promotion to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers later in the year.

Navarro made his Major League debut with the Yankees on September 7, 2004, playing against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and played in seven games, batting .429 (3-for-7) with one RBIs and two runs scored.

On January 11, 2005, Navarro was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks with Javier Vázquez and Brad Halsey in exchange for Randy Johnson.

That same day, the Diamondbacks traded Navarro, Beltrán Pérez, Danny Muegge, and William Juarez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Shawn Green.

Navarro split the 2005 season between the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s and the Dodgers, batting .273 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI in 50 games with the big league club.

In 2006, both Navarro and Russell Martin were invited to spring training to compete for the starting catcher position.

Both played well, but at the end of the spring Navarro was named the Dodgers' catcher, and Martin was sent to Triple-A.

However, while Martin thrived in Las Vegas, Navarro played only adequately in Los Angeles, and showed signs of inexperience.

On May 5, 2006, Martin was called up to the Dodgers after a wrist injury landed Navarro on the disabled list.

Martin played well after the injury to Navarro, and kept the job as catcher, as Navarro was demoted to the minor leagues.

In 25 games with the Dodgers in 2006, Navarro logged a .280/.372/.387 slash with 2 home runs and 8 RBI.

On June 26, 2006, Navarro was traded along with pitcher Jae Seo and outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for catcher Toby Hall and pitcher Mark Hendrickson.

Navarro made his debut as a Ray on June 28, 2006, against the Florida Marlins going hitless with two walks.

In 2007, he batted only .227 and tied for the lead of all Major League catchers in errors, with 14.

With the Rays, Navarro was an All-Star in 2008.

Navarro was much improved in 2008, after working on his hitting and his strength in the Venezuelan Winter League with Tiburones de La Guaira, leading his team with a .295 batting average and guiding his pitchers to the third-lowest ERA in the majors (3.60) as of July 10.

On July 6, it was announced that Navarro was selected to be on the American League squad for the 2008 MLB All-Star Game.

He finished the year with a .295/.349/.407 slash with 7 home runs and 54 RBI in 120 games.

During the 2008 offseason, Navarro went to arbitration with the Rays; he lost and was given $2.1 million.

In 2009, Navarro slashed .218/.261/.322 with 8 home runs and 32 RBI.

Of all AL players with at least 350 plate appearances in 2009, only one had a lower OBP, two had a lower AVG, and two had a lower SLG.

Navarro's batting average continued to slide in 2010, resulting in the loss of playing time to John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach.

Shortly after the latter returned from injury, Navarro was sent to the Rays' Triple-A team, Durham Bulls, having cleared waivers because of service time.

On December 2, 2010, Navarro became a free agent.

On December 14, 2010, Navarro signed a one-year contract to return to the Dodgers for the 2011 season.

He began the season on the disabled list due to an injury suffered in spring training and did not join the Dodgers until April 25.

Navarro was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on August 23, 2011.

In 64 games, he batted .193 with five home runs and 17 runs batted in.

He was released on August 30.

On January 16, 2012, Navarro signed a minor league contract, containing a spring training invite, with the Cincinnati Reds organization.

He was assigned to the Triple-A Louisville Bats.

Navarro was called up on August 1, due to the injury and suspension of Devin Mesoraco.

Navarro hit .290 with 2 home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games for Cincinnati.