LA Angels keep Johnny Giavotella, but trade Nava

When the LA Angels designated Johnny Giavotella for assignment last week many Angels fans thought they would never see Giavotella in an Angels uniform again.  However the door is not closed on Johnny G.

The LA Angels announced Sunday that Giavotella had cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake City. Will Giavotella ever play again for the Angels, only time will tell. However, this move leaves a sliver of hope for fan favorite Giavotella.

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The reason the Angels sent Giavotella packing in the first place was his lack of versatility.  Giavotella can only second base where as his competition at second base Gregorio Petit and Cliff Pennington can play three positions each, and Petit can even play the outfield.

It wasn’t that Giavotella performed poorly either as he six homers with 31 RBI’s while batting .260.  A glowing stat on the negative side though was his .287 OBP.  His fielding which was a big knock against him going into the season was actually much improved as he had a .987 fielding percentage with only five errors.

Kaleb Cowart who has been one of the Angels top prospects for the last couple of years was the beneficiary of the Giavotella’s demotion as he was called up to play both second and third base, in the absence of Yunel Escobar who is suffering from concussion symptoms.  Cowart is batting .250 with one HR and three RBI’s in 11 games.  With Escobar cleared to resume baseball activities the question will be how much playing time will Cowart continue to get when Escobar returns.

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In other news, Daniel Nava, who started the season as the Angels starting left fielder has been traded to the Kansas City Royals to provide them with outfield depth.  Nava who hit .235 with one homer and 13 RBI’s in 45 games before being designated for assignment in early August before accepting an assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake City.

While in Salt Lake Nava played well hitting .365 with five homers and 31 RBI’s in 22 games for the Bees.  In an unrelated move, the Angels recalled outfielder Rafael Ortega from Salt Lake.  Ortega hit .230 with one homer and nine RBI’s in 37 games earlier this season.  In 78 games for Salt Lake, Ortega has hit .317 with four homers and 31 RBI’s with 14 stolen bases.

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With the rosters expanding before the end of the week, there are sure to be a bevy of moves for the Angels.  We will see who will get the call for September.