Mike Napoli is heading to the Boston Red Sox after the two agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract with the former Texas Ranger who plays first base and catches.
Napoli has never played more than 70 games at first base, which he did in 2010, and in 2012 he caught 72 games for the Rangers, but the most he has caught in his career is 96 games (2009).
Fielding is not Napoli’s forte. As a catcher, Napoli caught 11-of-42 would-be base stealers, a 21% success rate and had a catcher’s ERA of 4.32. As a first baseman, Napoli is a plus fielder to his right but a minus fielder to his left.
But Napoli is a hitter. He has a lifetime .259 batting average, .356 OBP, .507 slugging, and .863 OPS.
What remains to be seen is whether his 2011 season, the best of his career, or his 2012 season, the worst of his career, is his representative season. My guess, is that it is something in between, but I remain uncertain as to how much impact he will have with his new team.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 29 | TEX | AL | 113 | 369 | 72 | 118 | 25 | 0 | 30 | 75 | 58 | 85 | .320 | .414 | .631 | 1.046 | |
| 2012 | 30 | TEX | AL | 108 | 352 | 53 | 80 | 9 | 2 | 24 | 56 | 56 | 125 | .227 | .343 | .469 | .812 | AS |
| 7 Yrs | 727 | 2270 | 371 | 587 | 113 | 6 | 146 | 380 | 315 | 673 | .259 | .356 | .507 | .863 | ||||
| LAA (5 yrs) | 506 | 1549 | 246 | 389 | 79 | 4 | 92 | 249 | 201 | 463 | .251 | .346 | .485 | .831 | ||||
| TEX (2 yrs) | 221 | 721 | 125 | 198 | 34 | 2 | 54 | 131 | 114 | 210 | .275 | .379 | .552 | .931 | ||||
