Daniel Nava started from the bottom. Now, he’s a millionaire.
Nava avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox reportedly worth $1.85 million. It represents the first seven-figure contract of Nava’s career, which is a big deal considering the Red Sox once purchased the outfielder for $1.
“For every player it means something different,” Nava told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “If you sign a big signing bonus, you’€™re fortunate and it’€™s not as much of a big deal. But being that I didn’t have a big signing bonus, to have this opportunity, to me it means a lot to have this opportunity. It means I was fortunate to be in the league for three years and I honestly didn’€™t know if I was ever going to have a chance to be in the league this long.”
Nava’s baseball journey is something out of a movie. He was cut by his college team and by his independent league team, casting doubt over whether he’d ever latch on with a major league franchise, much less make it to The Show. But the Red Sox purchased Nava from the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League for a buck back in 2008. The 31-year-old now is part of Boston’s big league outfield equation.
“It has a little bit more of a special place for me than it might have for someone else, and that’€™s not knocking someone else’€™s journey,” Nava told Bradford. “To me, arbitration means a lot. So whatever the number was, I almost look at it as an added bonus on top of the bonus of just being in the league for three years.”
Nava made his major league debut in 2010. He has played in parts of four seasons with Boston, putting together a career-year in 2013 as the Red Sox marched their way to a World Series title. Nava likely will assume a bench role with the club in 2015, which is more than he ever could have asked for back when his baseball career was on the verge of coming to a screeching halt.
“I’€™m grateful the Red Sox have allowed me to play for them for three years. And I’€™m grateful to have the opportunity that the union worked so hard to allow this opportunity to be what it is,” Nava said. “The players that have gone before have done a great job of allowing it to be what it is right now. That’€™s something we shouldn’t forget.
“I’m grateful I have this chance, I really am. So I don’t take it lightly one bit, especially considering all the things I was doing before I got this point.”
Appreciative. Humble. And now richer.
Nava sure has come a long way.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
