Red Sox sign Napoli, 3 years $39M

[Bo Sox Fan]

$13 mil a year for a first baseman who hits .220 with 25 homers seems a little much, no offense.

$23 mil a year for a first baseman who hits .250 with 24 homers seems a little much, no offense. (Mark Texiera's 2012 stats by the way)

You walked right into this one buddy, please look at your own players before you judge others. Napoli is a steal compared to Tex.

[KushCubs]

Same i think he hovers around the 3 WAR area. We'll see how his defense is there since he will be at 1B 90%+ of the time.

By the way, his second half OPS was .925. Lol not that thats gonna happen

The more I think about it, the more him playing 1st at Fenway makes him at least a 3 WAR player. I think he actually has a chance to put up a 4-5 WAR season in the next 3 years. Don't think it'll be the norm, but I think that stadium + Yankee stadium could help him put up some gaudy numbers.

[Superdude]

The more I think about it, the more him playing 1st at Fenway makes him at least a 3 WAR player. I think he actually has a chance to put up a 4-5 WAR season in the next 3 years. Don't think it'll be the norm, but I think that stadium + Yankee stadium could help him put up some gaudy numbers.

Toronto and Baltimore are also hitters parks. Tampa has the only pitchers park in the entire division.

[S.P.]

Does this mean Boston's speech impediment announcers no longer have to say Salt-er-ler-mer-ker-er's name?

[Jays Claw]

Good pickup.

I'm expecting career numbers out of him power-wise as he's sure to mash at Fenway.

[Jeffy25]

I kind of like this signing for the Red Sox.

I thought Napoli was going to sneak in a 4 year deal, and he shouldn't have been given one. And it's really interesting now that the Rangers didn't make that qualifying offer.

I wonder how many games he will actually catch. But if it's more than 30 per year, I think that really helps make this worth it.

They won't have to carry a back up catcher now on their roster too, which is nice.

[NYYCowboys]

$23 mil a year for a first baseman who hits .250 with 24 homers seems a little much, no offense. (Mark Texiera's 2012 stats by the way)

You walked right into this one buddy, please look at your own players before you judge others. Napoli is a steal compared to Tex.

Well first place is a lot better than 26 games back in last place too, so oh well.

[AI4]

Well first place is a lot better than 26 games back in last place too, so oh well.

That has nothing to do with Napoli or his Tex argument, but go ahead

[More-Than-Most]

$23 mil a year for a first baseman who hits .250 with 24 homers seems a little much, no offense. (Mark Texiera's 2012 stats by the way)

You walked right into this one buddy, please look at your own players before you judge others. Napoli is a steal compared to Tex.

This just made me feel so much worse about having Ryan Howard

[FalconsNation02]

Thank god! Get that guy outta the AL West. Guy killed my team (Angels). I'd rather only see him 6 times a year as opposed to 16.

[Kelly Gruber]

Its not like this deal blocks any prospects, or we're sending a pick to the Rangers for signing him. Ortiz is only signed for 2 years, 3rd year Napoli can DH. He'll play 1st base, and be our 3rd catcher behind Ryan Lavarnway and David Ross (Salty is as good as gone.) The Sox can still spend money and put a better product on the field we'll letting the farm develop and this was a good step towards that.

What super prospects are you talking about? We have a few good ones, but no super over the top amazing ones.

There's no good 1B in our system, and we didn't give up a draft pick. This makes no sense at all.

Yes it was a bit of a sarcastic comment, but Red Sox fans had it coming. In any big money signing thread most Sox fans acted uninterested and happy to not make the big moves as they'd rather wait for their propspects to take them to the promise land, now this happens and that was never the case. I argued with a few that the prospect list wasn't the type you could rest your laurels on and expect to win championships with, I was attacked and assured the Red Sox would be letting the youngsters play. Since then they've signed Jonny Gomes and Mike Napoli... Just saying boys, no need to get hostile.

By the way, if you read the rest of my post, it's clear I think it's a good signing for the Red Sox.

[SpecialFNK]

I don't think he has to repeat the 2011 AVG to be productive.
dude has big time power.
in 2012 he had 24 HR in only 108 games.
in 2011 he had 30 HR in only 113 games.

I don't think he will come anywhere near the .320 AVG he had in 2012, so if you're expecting something like that then expect to be disappointed. but that doesn't mean he can't have a good enough AVG. .270 or even .260 wont be that bad for the power numbers he could produce.

what would one expect? .260-.270 AVG with 30-35 HR if he plays say 120-130 games?

[Toxeryll]

nice signing.

[Leandres_sf]

$13 mil a year for a first baseman who hits .220 with 25 homers seems a little much, no offense.

AVG is a horrible way to judge a players worth. Not to mention, have you seen contracts that have been given out lately? They're all overpaid, what difference does it make? I think it's a good deal for BOS simply because they held it to 3 years.

[AI4]

His 2011 season was obviously an outlier. If he can be a .250/.350/.500 hitter during his tenure in Boston (which honestly, I think he will) then this will turn out to be a great signing.