Mike Napoli to Sign With Red Sox
Will the Red Sox trade a catcher after signing Napoli ?
Mike Napoli and the Boston Red Sox have reached an agreement on a three-year deal. Napoli was targeted by the Red Sox early on, has hit .306/.397/.710/1.107 with seven homers in 19 regular season games in Fenway Park.
Napoli was not made a qualifying offer by the Texas Rangers, meaning that the Red Sox will not lose it picked for signing him. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com says it’s a three-year, $39 million deal.
GM Ben Cherington covets draft picks, so naturally Napoli is a perfect fit from that standpoint.
Napoli was believed to be seeking a four-year deal and the Seattle Mariners had expressed interest but apparently could not come to an agreement. The Rangers backed away from Naopli and re-signed Geovany Soto to a one-year deal for $3 million. Soto became a much more economical solution for Texas.
Napoli figures to be the Red Sox solution to first base. Napoli, 31, hit .227/.343/.469 with 24 homers and 56 RBI last season for the Rangers.
In 2011, Napoli had a career year, hitting .320/.414/.631 with 30 homers and 75 RBI in only 113 games.
The Red Sox now have a surplus of catching possibilities. The team signed free-agent David Ross to go along with Ryan Lavarnway, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Adding Napoli who can serve as a backup catcher as well, would seem to indicate that the Red Sox will be making a trade. The team is very high on Lavarnway so Saltalamacchia may be the odd man out, stay tuned, Boston may just be getting warmed up.
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