A former Northwoods League Most Valuable Player will soon be making his Major League debut for the Los Angeles Angels. Left-handed hitting first baseman Efren Navarro, who led the Rochester Honkers to the Northwoods League Championship in his MVP season of 2006, will be in uniform tonight for the Angels when they open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins in Anaheim.

The slick-fielding first baseman was a two-way player during his two-year stint in the NWL. A Northwoods League All-Star in both 2005 and 2006, Navarro hit .298 with 12 doubles, four home runs and 54 RBIs in 103 games with the Rochester Honkers. On the mound the left-hander went 8-2 with 1.76 ERA, striking out 64 in 87 innings in two seasons. He made just six errors in 465 total chances at first base, good for a .991 fielding percentage.

Despite his success in the Northwoods League, Navarro was slighted in the 2007 Major League Draft. Following his junior year at UNLV, the Lynwood, California native was picked in the 50^th round, the 1,450^th player selected, just four picks from the end of the draft. He opted to sign with the Angels and has made a steady climb up their organization ever since. The 25-year-old was putting up career best numbers at the time of his call up from Triple-A Salt Lake. He’s hitting .317 with 36 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs and 73 RBIs. Defensively, he’s performing as well as ever, with just three errors and a .998 fielding percentage. Since August 12^th he’s hitting .424 and is coming off a Pacific Coast League Player of the Week honor. Last week for the Bees Navarro batted .593 (16-for-27) including eight extra-base hits.

Navarro becomes the 6th former Rochester Honker to reach the big leagues. He joins Los Angeles Dodgers all-star outfielder Andre Ethier (’02) and Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Matt Reynolds (’06) as former Honkers currently in the big leagues. When Navarro debuts, he’ll become the 84^th former NWL player to appear in the Major Leagues—the 47^th to play in 2011.

The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.