Daniel Nava

Daniel Nava is putting together an all star season in Boston.

Major League Baseball fans, meet Daniel Nava.

Red Sox fans are already quite familiar with the 30-year-old outfielder.

Nava is a rarity these days: the unknown that defied the odds. He's a fly in the ointment of conventional baseball projections. He's the guy who slipped through the cracks.

Jeremy Lin, eat your heart out.

Daniel Nava hasn't just had a few good weeks like the undrafted point guard who shot to fame with the New York Knicks.

Daniel Nava is, as of now, a very legitimate candidate to be an American League All-Star outfielder in 2013.

He's beyond the point of being a nice story, or a good fill-in. This column isn't asking baseball fans to make Nava an All-Star because he's doing more than expected or because he's come from out of nowhere.

Nava is an All-Star because quite frankly he's one of the best outfielders in the American League this season.

Want numbers?

Nava is fifth among AL outfielders in batting average at .299. He's tied for second in RBI with 40. Nava's on-base-percentage of .395 leads the league among outfielders and is a big part of why he's third in OPS at .867.

Nava isn't the home run threat that guys such as Jose Bautista, Nelson Cruz and Adam Jones are, and he isn't the all-around threat that Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels is.

He's pretty good though — no make that very good.

There were six outfielders on the 2012 American League All-Star roster. If there are six this season then Alex Gordon, Adam Jones, Mike Trout and Nelson Cruz are all worthy choices.

It gets a little hazy after that. Jose Bautista has the power credentials, but he's hitting .263 and in spite of 16 more at-bats, has 10 less RBI with 30.

Then there are the speedsters. Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp all are among the league leaders in stolen bases. Ellsbury, the same Ellsbury who has been seen as a fairly disappointing player in 2013 is still leading the league in steals with 24, hitting .279 and also is tied for the league lead in triples with six.

Gardner has been one of most consistent offensive players on an injury-riddled Yankees squad. He's hitting .284 with six home runs, 10 stolen bases and 34 runs scored.

Coco Crisp (remember him?) is also having a nice season out in Oakland. The leadoff hitter for one of the AL's best teams. Crisp is hitting .290 with 13 steals and is second (behind Nava) in on-base percentage at .381.

Sort through all the various All-Star outfielder candidates in the American League and there's just no denying that Daniel Nava is not just deserving of mention. He's deserving of a spot on the team.

Yes, there's still over a month before the actual game.

That means that maybe Nava slumps? Maybe he fades back toward his far less impressive 2012 numbers?

Don't count on it. Nava seems locked in. He's basically supplanted Johnny Gomes as the Red Sox starting left fielder.

Shane Victorino's health won't determine whether or not Nava is in the lineup.

Seeing as how he's a switch hitter, a game's starting pitcher won't impact Nava's status either.

Only Nava can play himself out of his starting position on the Red Sox, and as of now he's not showing any signs of doing that.

Nava probably won't make the team, he's not even on the AL ballot, and as of now Torii Hunter, a veteran who is having a good season — but not as good a season as Nava — is fighting with the Orioles' Nick Markakis for the third outfield spot.

If you want to try and get Nava some recognition, then you're going to have to write him in on the very bottom section of the fan ballot.

Nava hasn't paid his dues in the traditional baseball sense. That's a nice way for those selecting the players to validate passing over someone they've never really paid attention to in the first place. He's not a former top prospect or a guy with past All-Star appearances.

The problem is that Nava has paid his dues.

How else would you describe someone who had to walk-on to the Santa Clara college baseball team, and then had to go to junior college when he could no longer afford to pay for the four-year institution.

Nava eventually made it back to Santa Clara after he tore-up the Junior College circuit, but that didn't get him drafted. Nava had to go play on an independent league team, The Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League.

When he was so good in that league that Baseball America ranked him the top prospect out of all independent leagues did major league teams come calling with lucrative offers?

No, not really. The Red Sox bought Nava's rights for a whopping one dollar.

That's turned into a pretty good investment.

If Nava continues on his current pace and still doesn't make the team that would be a shame. It would be even worse if people said he didn't make it because he didn't pay his dues.

He's paid them in full.