Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that the club has signed infielder Efren Navarro to a minor league contract. Navarro has joined the team's big league camp at Spring Training as an invited player.
Navarro will be in uniform (#68) and is available for today's Cactus League opener vs. the San Diego Padres.
The Mariners now have 60 players in big league camp, 40 roster players, and 19 non-roster invitees and 1 player (Jesus Sucre) on the 60-day disabled list.
Navarro, 29, was designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles on Feb. 25. He refused an outright assignment to the minors on Feb. 28, choosing to become a free agent, prior to signing with Seattle today. The Los Angeles Angels traded Navarro to Baltimore on Jan. 26 this year.
Navarro split last season between the Angels and AAA Salt Lake. In 54 Major League games with LAA, hit he .253 (21-for-83) with 4 doubles and 5 RBI while appearing defensively at first base (29 games, 8 starts), left field (15 G, 11 GS) and right field (3 G). He hit .329 (93-for-283) with 24 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs in 72 games in AAA.
Navarro has appeared in the Majors in four of the last five seasons (2011, 2013-2015), playing a total of 130 games, all with the Angels. He is a career .246 hitter and has played 67 career games at first base, and 44 career games in the outfield (38 in left field, and 9 in right field).