Almost two weeks ago, word came out that the Boston Red Sox had agreed on a three year, $39 million deal with free agent Mike Napoli.

However, since then, Napoli has taken his physical, but no announcement of an official deal has been forthcoming. There has been much talk that there were concerns about the results of Napoli's physical.

Tonight, there is a report out indicating that Boston is re-opening negotiations with Napoli, asking him to accept a shorter-term deal than the three years they had previously agreed upon.

The Rangers reportedly were interested in Napoli, but indications are they were not willing to do more than a two year, $20 million deal. My guess is that they still would be reluctant to go more than two years, but with Josh Hamilton having signed with Anaheim and a potential Justin Upton trade looking unlikely, Texas might be willing to up the annual salary at this point, in an effort to get Napoli to come back.