:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46900756/usa-today-8492102.0.jpg)
The Red Sox designated Daniel Nava for assignment last week, and the possibility existed that he would pass through waivers unclaimed thanks to his terrible 2015. Alas, not only was Nava claimed, but it was by the worst team possible.
rays claim daniel nava
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 5, 2015
It had to be the Rays, didn't it? At least we can console ourselves knowing these aren't Joe Maddon's Rays, so Nava isn't in the hands of Boston's modern rival, but still, this stings a bit. Not even because Nava might be great for the Rays -- given how important Nava was to the Sox, I'm still rooting for that -- but because he might be great for the Rays.
Some of you will say the Yankees would have been worse for your own emotional attachment to Nava, but that would have been fine, and is something I'm used to seeing. This is a little tougher to deal with, but regardless of the who, it was time for Nava and the Sox to change directions. Either he was going to rebuild his value in Triple-A or on another big-league team, and it just happened to be Tampa Bay's.
Nava finishes up his Red Sox career as a .267/.357/.387 batter, with his 127 OPS+ in 2013 a driving force towards that season's World Series championship. And even if he sticks on the Rays for a while, at least we'll always have that. And this.
