Sources say Napoli signs with Sox.

[a700hitter]

I've read that Napoli said he knew he had the hip problem last season. That means he must have had some medical diagnosis of the problem. Maybe from the Rangers' medical.

 

Apparently, Napoli went to free agency knowing he had the problem. I still can't figure why the Red Sox would want to stick with this guy even for a rental. That doesn't solve their 1B problem.

If Napoli can't take some time behind the plate, I would have opted for Youkilis for 1 season at 1B. He cost $12 million, and he doesn't have a bad hip. Plus he is a superior defender at 1B. Napoli as a full time first baseman is a very meh move.

[SoxSport]

http://www.csnne.com/football-new-england-patriots/patriots-talk/Napoli-opens-up-about-avascular-necrosis?blockID=826041&feedID=3352

 

This story by Maureen Mullen quotes Napoli as saying he didn't know about his hip condition in advance.

I saw a tweet previously, from, I believe, Jen Royle, that said he did know. Royle is supposed to be a friend of Napoli's.

 

I don't know what the real situation is, but the Red Sox are taking a $5mil gamble that Napoli will hold up through the season. AND he will hit like they think he can hit at Fenway. If Nap doesn't pan out, they appear to think they can fall back on Gomez, unless they think they can trade for a first baseman with Salty or Ellsbury. We''ll see how this all plays out, but they have gotten themselves older with all these short term free agents they've signed. And older means more injury prone.

[SoxSport]

If Napoli can't take some time behind the plate, I would have opted for Youkilis for 1 season at 1B. He cost $12 million, and he doesn't have a bad hip. Plus he is a superior defender at 1B. Napoli as a full time first baseman is a very meh move.

 

The FO had a bug up their ass about Napoli, and when that happens even a degenerative hip couldn't sway them off course. They are taking a gamble, and will get criticized in the media if it backfires. They'll be after Ben's scalp if his moves don't pan out this year. Last year was not a good year for him.

[User Name]

Can't wait to see Napoli outmash every other 1B option in the market, and catch Lackey and inter-league games to boot. The backpedals about the signing will be epic.

[rjortiz]

Can't wait to see Napoli outmash every other 1B option in the market, and catch Lackey and inter-league games to boot. The backpedals about the signing will be epic.

 

Can't wait to see Napoli succumb to his hip injury, and not catch Lackey and inter-league games to boot. The backpedals about the signing will be epic.

[User Name]

Can't wait to see Napoli succumb to his hip injury, and not catch Lackey and inter-league games to boot. The backpedals about the signing will be epic.

 

We'll see. Unless you're a doctor (and you're not) then your opinion is pretty close to meaningless. Every report out there explains why the possibility of ill effects from the condition for 2013 are close to none. Even worse, they'll probably handle him with the kid gloves. But hey, the know-it-all couch coaches know better than the doctors.......

 

For the record, if he does succumb to the injury he cost merely 5 million for one year. Tell me again why people would "backpedal"? All that could be said is "they gambled, he got injured, they spent five million on him.....meh".

[Dojji]

Pretty much. We got a very good player on a very risk-controlled deal. I was astonished at what Cherrington managed to get done with that contract, and getting that many home runs for that kind of deal is a move I'll defend Cherington for even if it backfires somehow.

[Palodios]

We'll see. Unless you're a doctor (and you're not) then your opinion is pretty close to meaningless. Every report out there explains why the possibility of ill effects from the condition for 2013 are close to none. Even worse, they'll probably handle him with the kid gloves. But hey, the know-it-all couch coaches know better than the doctors.......

 

For the record, if he does succumb to the injury he cost merely 5 million for one year. Tell me again why people would "backpedal"? All that could be said is "they gambled, he got injured, they spent five million on him.....meh".

 

Agreed. The Red Sox essentially gave him the money equal to what many teams pay their setup man. There really is no downside to backpedal from.

[User Name]

Agreed. The Red Sox essentially gave him the money equal to what many teams pay their setup man. There really is no downside to backpedal from.

 

Some people just need reasons to bitch. There's really very little possibility of failure with this deal.

[a700hitter]

Jacko said that he could play his whole career with this condition or end up with a hip replacement. It is a risk. Even when healthy, Naps is not a great offensive producer at 1B, and he's not a very good fielder. Youkilis would have been a better risk for 1 year, IMO.

[User Name]

Wanna make a sig bet that Napoli outproduces Youk for 2013?

[a700hitter]

Wanna make a sig bet that Napoli outproduces Youk for 2013?

What measures?

[User Name]

What measures?

 

Let's go by the standard four we used in the fantasy league last year that apply to the two of 'em: OBP, TB, R, RBI. Maybe add games played and OPS+ for fairness?

[a700hitter]

Let's go by the standard four we used in the fantasy league last year that apply to the two of 'em: OBP, TB, R, RBI. Maybe add games played and OPS+ for fairness?

It would be an interesting bet, but it violates my cardinal rule of betting. I have at times bet on the Yankees when their victory looked inevitable and the Sox already had been eliminated. If you can't beat'em profit from them. However, I have never wagered on the Yankees or a Yankee player against the Red Sox or a Red Sox player. I just can't do that.

[User Name]

That, and you know deep inside that it's a very real possibility that Napoli both outhits and plays more games than Youkilis, even with the hip condition.

[a700hitter]

That, and you know deep inside that it's a very real possibility that Napoli both outhits and plays more games than Youkilis, even with the hip condition.

Just as much as I think that Youk will outhit Napoli.

[Lucienbel]

That, and you know deep inside that it's a very real possibility that Napoli both outhits and plays more games than Youkilis, even with the hip condition.

 

Honestly, it wouldn't be very hard for Napoli to play more games than Youk did his last couple of seasons in Boston. We'll see how being a full time first basemen treats Napoli, and if his hip ends up effecting his hitting at all. I'd be glad if he played more games and outhit Youkilis though. He's definitely got a shot.

[SoxSport]

Jacko said that he could play his whole career with this condition or end up with a hip replacement. It is a risk. Even when healthy, Naps is not a great offensive producer at 1B, and he's not a very good fielder. Youkilis would have been a better risk for 1 year, IMO.

 

Napoli will have to hit a ton at Fenway to justify the signing. 1B is a power position. The Red Sox need a power bat there to be effective, especially with their mediocre pitching. Even in the good years when they had Pedro and Schilling, they had some power at 1B to go with Manny and Ortiz in the middle of the lineup. In my view, and others, they blew it by not filling the middle of that lineup with an impact hitter like Hamilton--who would affect other hitters as well around him. Manny did that, even if he didn't know the signs.

[dupree]

Napoli will have to hit a ton at Fenway to justify the signing. 1B is a power position. The Red Sox need a power bat there to be effective, especially with their mediocre pitching. Even in the good years when they had Pedro and Schilling, they had some power at 1B to go with Manny and Ortiz in the middle of the lineup. In my view, and others, they blew it by not filling the middle of that lineup with an impact hitter like Hamilton--who would affect other hitters as well around him. Manny did that, even if he didn't know the signs.

 

Agreed. I also thought Hamilton would of helped the players around him and made the middle of the order more intimidating to opposing pitchers. Should of saved the money on Victorino and Gomes and signed Hamilton.

[User Name]

Hamilton Is a hell of a bigger question mark than any of the guys the red Sox signed.

 

Also, SoxSport, please do us all a favor and employ logic before you post these things. Napoli is making 5 mill over a year. All he had to do is play to justify the signing. If hehits all his incentives then he's been productive and the signing worthy. Please stop splitting hairs just because.

[jung]

Not sure they should catch Napoli unless they have to. I mean what now...Lackey has to have his own private catcher? They should try to get all the mileage out of that bat that they can. If the Sox backed him off to 1 year then that suggests they don't even have confidence in a second year. Professional athletes put much more strain on damaged joints playing than just walking around town.

 

Who cares if he has the versatility to catch at this point. Its a one year deal. Get all the production they can out of him and then see where they are after the year. As far as I am concerned, the just kicked the 1st decision down the road by a year which is likely as good a decision as they could make unless they wanted to just let Gomez or Salty play over there for a year.

[User Name]

Not sure they should catch Napoli unless they have to. I mean what now...Lackey has to have his own private catcher? They should try to get all the mileage out of that bat that they can. If the Sox backed him off to 1 year then that suggests they don't even have confidence in a second year. Professional athletes put much more strain on damaged joints playing than just walking around town.

 

Who cares if he has the versatility to catch at this point. Its a one year deal. Get all the production they can out of him and then see where they are after the year. As far as I am concerned, the just kicked the 1st decision down the road by a year which is likely as good a decision as they could make unless they wanted to just let Gomez or Salty play over there for a year.

 

This is the key point.

[NYlove4BoSox]

I like the thought of having the 2014 infield as:

1b - WMB

2nd - obviously Pedey

SS - Iggy (dependent on a lot of offensive progression)

3b - XB (w/normal progression)

[SoxFanForsyth]

Not quite sure why we're talking about Youk like he's the epitome of health? The guy has averaged about 120 games over the past 2 seasons. And it's not like he's going to be making a move to 1B to ease some of the physical stress of defense. He's going back to 3B, which hurt him to begin with.

 

You know why Youk was even a decent hitter in 2011? Fenway Park. He hit .320/.426/.563 at home in 2011, and hit .191/.317/.349 away.

 

Take him out of Fenway park and his numbers plummet (See: 2012 - .235/.336/.409). Even in Napoli's horrid year, he still outperformed Youk last year (Nap 2012: .812 OPS, Youk: .745 OPS).

 

And while we're on it, Youk had a .745 OPS last year while playing around 21% of his games at Fenway (26 games of 122 played) and posted an .848 OPS at Fenway.

 

Take out those games at Fenway last year? He posted a .221/.336/.388/.724 line away from Fenway Park last year.

 

So that's two consecutive years where his numbers are completely based on Fenway Park, yet he would have to play 1/2 of his games away from Fenway.

 

No thanks, I'll take Napoli, who had an .840 OPS on the road last year, had a 1.731 OPS at Fenway last year, has a career 1.107 OPS at Fenway Park, and only got stronger down the stretch when his team needed him the most (1.051 OPS in September, 7 HR in 16 games). Youkilis, meanwhile, got fatigued and his production dropped off in September, where he posted a .649 OPS and 3 HR in 26 games.

 

Give me Napoli over Youkilis, and it's not close.

[Lucienbel]

Napoli will have to hit a ton at Fenway to justify the signing. 1B is a power position. The Red Sox need a power bat there to be effective, especially with their mediocre pitching. Even in the good years when they had Pedro and Schilling, they had some power at 1B to go with Manny and Ortiz in the middle of the lineup. In my view, and others, they blew it by not filling the middle of that lineup with an impact hitter like Hamilton--who would affect other hitters as well around him. Manny did that, even if he didn't know the signs.

 

I agree they need a middle of the order guy, but personally don't think Hamilton was that guy. Not really sure if the right guy for the long term was there this year at all. While the offseason this year wasn't anything special, and they ended up really close to the salary cap again, this offseason did allow the team a lot of flexibility in the future to fill positions in based on how guys from the farm work out.

[a700hitter]

Not quite sure why we're talking about Youk like he's the epitome of health? The guy has averaged about 120 games over the past 2 seasons. And it's not like he's going to be making a move to 1B to ease some of the physical stress of defense. He's going back to 3B, which hurt him to begin with.

 

You know why Youk was even a decent hitter in 2011? Fenway Park. He hit .320/.426/.563 at home in 2011, and hit .191/.317/.349 away.

 

Take him out of Fenway park and his numbers plummet (See: 2012 - .235/.336/.409). Even in Napoli's horrid year, he still outperformed Youk last year (Nap 2012: .812 OPS, Youk: .745 OPS).

 

And while we're on it, Youk had a .745 OPS last year while playing around 21% of his games at Fenway (26 games of 122 played) and posted an .848 OPS at Fenway.

 

Take out those games at Fenway last year? He posted a .221/.336/.388/.724 line away from Fenway Park last year.

 

So that's two consecutive years where his numbers are completely based on Fenway Park, yet he would have to play 1/2 of his games away from Fenway.

 

No thanks, I'll take Napoli, who had an .840 OPS on the road last year, had a 1.731 OPS at Fenway last year, has a career 1.107 OPS at Fenway Park, and only got stronger down the stretch when his team needed him the most (1.051 OPS in September, 7 HR in 16 games). Youkilis, meanwhile, got fatigued and his production dropped off in September, where he posted a .649 OPS and 3 HR in 26 games.

 

Give me Napoli over Youkilis, and it's not close.

Youk had an off season. Is it time to bury his bat? We shall see. Napoli is just not that good. He gives you nice production from the catcher position, but he's nothing special at 1B. Carlos Pena gives better production most years.

[User Name]

Youk had an off season. Is it time to bury his bat? We shall see. Napoli is just not that good. He gives you nice production from the catcher position, but he's nothing special at 1B. Carlos Pena gives better production most years.

 

Last three years:

 

Player A: .745 OPS.

 

Player B: .844 OPS.

 

Player C: .875 OPS

 

What you're saying is completely and utterly incorrect. Napoli (Player C) has outproduced not only Pena, but also Youk himself over the last three years.

[NativeBostonian]

Not quite sure why we're talking about Youk like he's the epitome of health? The guy has averaged about 120 games over the past 2 seasons. And it's not like he's going to be making a move to 1B to ease some of the physical stress of defense. He's going back to 3B, which hurt him to begin with.

 

You know why Youk was even a decent hitter in 2011? Fenway Park. He hit .320/.426/.563 at home in 2011, and hit .191/.317/.349 away.

 

Take him out of Fenway park and his numbers plummet (See: 2012 - .235/.336/.409). Even in Napoli's horrid year, he still outperformed Youk last year (Nap 2012: .812 OPS, Youk: .745 OPS).

 

And while we're on it, Youk had a .745 OPS last year while playing around 21% of his games at Fenway (26 games of 122 played) and posted an .848 OPS at Fenway.

 

Take out those games at Fenway last year? He posted a .221/.336/.388/.724 line away from Fenway Park last year.

 

So that's two consecutive years where his numbers are completely based on Fenway Park, yet he would have to play 1/2 of his games away from Fenway.

 

No thanks, I'll take Napoli, who had an .840 OPS on the road last year, had a 1.731 OPS at Fenway last year, has a career 1.107 OPS at Fenway Park, and only got stronger down the stretch when his team needed him the most (1.051 OPS in September, 7 HR in 16 games). Youkilis, meanwhile, got fatigued and his production dropped off in September, where he posted a .649 OPS and 3 HR in 26 games.

 

Give me Napoli over Youkilis, and it's not close.

 

Thank god someone knows what he is talking about. Youk is declining and it is going to be funny when he bombs in the Bronx.

[User Name]

Also, Napoli's .863 career OPS would rank him 11th among active first basemen, .04 behind Youk himself, and ahead of guys like Justin Morneau and, of course, Carlos Pena.

[mvp 78]

Also, Napoli's .863 career OPS would rank him 11th among active first basemen, .04 behind Youk himself, and ahead of guys like Justin Morneau and, of course, Carlos Pena.

 

You take your "facts" and go elsewhere. Real analysis isn't allowed in these parts, bub...