The new catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, Kelly Shoppach (acquired for a player to be named later), is quite similar to their old one, Dioner Navarro.
Shoppach is coming off an abysmal 2009 in Cleveland, where he batted .210 with 12 homers and 40 RBI. It was a dramatic drop off from his '08 campaign, where the right-handed batter blasted 21 home runs and 55 RBI while batting .261.
Navarro also struggled in '09, batting just .218 with eight dingers and 32 RBI. He was one of the Rays representatives in the 2008 All-Star game and finished '08 with seven homers and 54 runs batted in, while batting .295 at the plate.
The 29 year old Shoppach has more power than Navarro, as evidenced by his .449 career slugging percentage and 33 homers over the past two seasons. Navarro only has 33 home runs in h ...
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Article written by JC De La Torre
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