Rangers, Napoli reportedly agree to one-year contract
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 6:41 PM CST
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PrintThe Texas Rangers and Mike Napoli have reportedly agreed on a one year, $9.4 million contract, avoiding arbitration, according to MLBTR.
Napoli had requested $11.5 million when he filed for arbitration, and the Rangers were offering $8.3 million. The midway point between those two numbers was $9.9 million, which means that, if this figure is correct, Napoli settled for significantly less than the midway point.
Napoli had spent his entire career with Anaheim before the 2010-11 offseason, when he was dealt, along with Juan Rivera, by the Angels to Toronto for Vernon Wells, only to have the Blue Jays then flip him to Texas for Frankie Francisco and cash.
Napoli responded with a career year, putting up a 1046 OPS while getting good reviews for his defense behind the plate. He is going into the 2012 season as the Rangers' primary catcher, and is also expected to get some at bats at first base.
Napoli will be a free agent after the 2012 season.
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and still no tweets from any local media or beat writers about this....
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 6:47 PM CST reply actions
The Rangers should lock this fella up...
by ghostofErikThompson on Feb 11, 2012 6:48 PM CST reply actions
in a sherlocks bathroom stall
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 6:52 PM CST up reply actions
Here's the problem
There’s the Victor Martinez contract comparisons, but even if Napoli is asking for less than Martinez…
1) Martinez was better when he signed,
2) Napoli has one season with more than 114 games played, and in that season, he put up the lowest OPS of his career, and
3) We all said at the time the Martinez contract was overpaying.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 6:52 PM CST up reply actions
I know the guy who started that.
We did a version of this (Summer Nights) in Cub Scouts with new words to talk about how awesome scouting was. Half of us were dressed up as girls
colonialbob
haha
"God dammit TAG I swear to God if you keep this "It was a close play" shit up all night I will send you cookies made from my own shit" -River Fenix 8/26/2011
"this is a big reason I decided not to convert to Islam now if it was 72 skanks? Different story, my friend" Bob Loblaw 9/2/2011
by I am Neftali Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 7:02 PM CST up reply actions
That's the only argument I need, Shawn
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 7:58 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
I posted this in the other thread in reply to 78 game stretch thing
V-Mart’s best three month stretch
Stretch G PA AVG OBP SLG OPS Jul-Sep 2005 79 335 .359 .429 .539 .968
He had 9 different three month stretches of an OPS over .900 in his career.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
#3 is what I don't get
people mocked Josey for saying it wasn’t overpaying and that the Rangers should have matched it. And here we have Napoli, who with far less of a track record will likely get similar. And people are chastising Texas for not locking him up at that money now…
Go Rice Owls!
Would be a Matt Harrison fan, but I only like superstars
I think that chastising is the minority... or at least it was.
There’s a lot that expect less than V-Mart. I’ve thought 4-40ish sounded about right.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
Not to be overlooked is the catcher's workload you can expect out of each player and the quality of defense they provide there
Also, I don’t think many thought it was a huge overpayment. But with Martinez, he was basically given that money to be a very part time catcher but mostly 1B/DH. Napoli’s work behind the plate looked much better than what we the Sosh led us to believe and he apparently had pretty good chemistry with the pitching staff working back there.
And also, Napoli was really, really, really good last year.
Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"
Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."
I think you missed
about 3 more reallys.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 9:05 PM CST up reply actions
The mid point for was much higher than MLBTR's predicted amount.
Playing time matters a whole lot in these things. They projected $9.2
Clearly Napoli’s camp thought there was a very good chance the Rangers would win the arb.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
the guy over at MLBTR
has a pretty good track record predicting arb salaries
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 7:06 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
He developed a model based that basically reverse engineered how they usually worked out.
It’s why he’s so close usually.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
and it is not simply
half way between the two proposals
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 7:23 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Oh no... he figures these things out long before numbers are even submitted.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
but some based win/lose on simply the midpoint
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 7:27 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Yaaaaaaaaay
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 6:50 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I've got them at 119.7
and 123.6 with another reliever and a UIF figured in. Haven’t double checked with Cotts yet…
nice jump from last year's $92M
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:50 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
and then look back 2 years ago at $64.8M
quite the increase
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Why do you have Holland at 1.5?
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
prob thought he was arb eligible
before the season ending and forgot to update it….
I think the only other main difference between you and Cot's
Is Young. They show him at $16m instead of the $13m you have that reflects what he agreed to defer.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
Yeah
not sure how to record signing bonuses sometimes. Seems like teams can prorate them over a term longer than the life of the contract or over the life of the contract or count it all in year one….I’ll go with Cotts when I double check everything (I just made a note of the bonus).
lefties who sit ~94
under the table green
How's that Josh Hamilton tweet from 18 minutes ago going, AJM?
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
Only 1 angry response
I’ve gotten more angry responses to the A.J. Burnett tweet.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 6:58 PM CST up reply actions
lotta truth in what you said
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 7:00 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Like I said, Gordo was talking about that last week...
And I think he said he got killed with emails.
Can you imagine if...
…a black, married athlete, who was a recovering crack addict, got drunk and ended up having sex with a white woman in a bar bathroom?
The D/FW fanbase would have torches and pitchforks out…
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 7:21 PM CST up reply actions
I think the relapse with alcohol would've went over about the same that it has
but the reaction to the sex would’ve been completely different.
being open about his faith
certainly has hurt him here in the bible belt
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 7:26 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
You're making it awfully specific w/ 'crack and bathroom',
but Irvin had similar shit while married. He was a Cowboy, they were winning, he still got cheered.
Que sera, sera.
Yup
Irvin had sex with a good percentage of white strippers while married. Score touchdowns baby! None of my business how you carry out your personal life.
Irvin was a pretty polarizing figure
And he wasn’t a drug addict.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 7:40 PM CST up reply actions
He added to that polarizing effect by being outlandish.
I’m sure if Josh showed up in an ankle-length fur coat, people would be saying, “WTF?”
I’m not sure what the addict part has to do with it. Relapsing is publicly worse than what was going on at the White House?
Que sera, sera.
And yet they bitched about his hat turned backwards and the shades????
We’re not about sending messages. We’re about winning ballgames.-Wash, 04/03/11
Hell to the fucking no. -Wash, 10/07/11
If Irvin wasn't an addict, he sure did coke for a long time.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
Thanks
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
by Josey Wales on Feb 12, 2012 10:10 AM CST up reply actions
yeah. sucks when people call you on something you're obviously wrong about.
sorry, bro.
"Anyone that isn't pro-choice never met you" ~Brian Thomas on Seth...
by ivysafety39 on Feb 12, 2012 10:27 AM CST up reply actions
I said Irvin did coke for a long time but never called him an addict.
Sorry, bro.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
by Josey Wales on Feb 12, 2012 10:37 AM CST up reply actions
No
That’s why I said a “white woman.”
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 7:41 PM CST up reply actions
I'm messing with you
I understand you’re bringing up the race issue of the whole subject but I don’t see how the race of the woman would make any difference in this situation. There’s people that would have torches and pitchforks out over any black guy having sex with a white woman. For black athletes, it’s a foregone conclusion that they’re all having or had sex with many white women.
I think his point was entirely valid
We do not like these things in Texas…
We’re not about sending messages. We’re about winning ballgames.-Wash, 04/03/11
Hell to the fucking no. -Wash, 10/07/11
Yeah, it kinda does man
My professional friends were about my dealio…
We’re not about sending messages. We’re about winning ballgames.-Wash, 04/03/11
Hell to the fucking no. -Wash, 10/07/11
Let's say that black athlete had the personality/work ethic/family values/spiritual beliefs that Hamilton does
I’m thinking someone like a Jason Terry-type… I don’t think the torches and pitchforks would be about equal to what they are for Hambone. Those guys play pretty strong in the bible belt.
Whereas if this happened Sydney Ponson and Terrell Owens, I’d expect the fan reaction to be about the same.
Did not think I would be comparing Ponson, T.O., Hamilton, and Terry when I woke up this morning.
what a load of shit..most people dont give a fuck if he performs
aka..michael vick…whats that actor acton kutcher..noone gives a shit
What?
Defending Big D Check it out
Twitter
"You guys are talking about living forever like it’s a real thing, but I bust out a man shoving his head into a vagina, and it’s srs time?"
--iorange555 8/23/2011
lol
what the fuck does ashton kutcher have to do with anything
by studcrackers on Feb 11, 2012 11:33 PM CST up reply actions
You're bad at this.
"Don’t want to spend my night waiting in line unless it’s for more beer."
--EssBee, on LoneStarBall, Jan. 21, 2010
Complete bullshit...I guess you missed the part where "the DFW fanbase" at
Texas Stadium gave Irvin a standing ovation before a game.
Married Irvin, in a hotel room with strippers who are doing each other…there was blow, there was dope and there was Irvin spanking it while Alfredo Roberts was filming the entire saga.
Standing ovation at Texas Stadium for Michael Irvin when he returned.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
Great news!
Woah, had to throttle back to some Coltrane after the mega-4Loko effect of much Zombie.
We’re not about sending messages. We’re about winning ballgames.-Wash, 04/03/11
Hell to the fucking no. -Wash, 10/07/11
=/
"Look if you want a journalist hire a UT grad. If you want a doctor you pick a Baylor grad. If you need a vet you see an Aggie grad. And if you need a pizza you call a Tech grad." -BUBacker
Beware of Trolls: b.pate, jonthefon, K.S.B., Panorama, Robert L. Bishop, TideNTexas
...what?
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Feb 11, 2012 7:55 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Was hoping for a longer deal than just the arb.
Like those below.. bummer.
"Look if you want a journalist hire a UT grad. If you want a doctor you pick a Baylor grad. If you need a vet you see an Aggie grad. And if you need a pizza you call a Tech grad." -BUBacker
Beware of Trolls: b.pate, jonthefon, K.S.B., Panorama, Robert L. Bishop, TideNTexas
The Napoli 1-year deal bums me out
I’ve been holding onto some Rangers gift cards I got for Christmas in hopes they signed him to a multi-year deal so I could get a Napoli jersey. He is absolutely my favorite player. I don’t want to get it now, since it will be obolete in a year. We know how the Rangers feel about giving multi-year deals to guys on the wrong side of 30. So which jersey would you guys get? The only players signed beyond next season are Beltre, Darvish, and Andrus.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 7:59 PM CST reply actions
Yeah, I'll probably go with the Cruz jersey
I’ve bought four jerseys in my lifetime, and all 4 players were gone within a year. It’s a sickening feeling.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 8:34 PM CST up reply actions
you should buy an Elvis jersey then
He’s not going anywhere next year
Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"
Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."
Have him for at least four more years. Same with Feliz.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
You're right
The Holland jersey may be the way to go.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 8:49 PM CST up reply actions
I like Elvis and all, but
Defensive specialists with no power don’t normally inspire me to buy their jersey. I’d rather wait on the Profar jersey in 3 years.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 8:48 PM CST up reply actions
ElvisRidingElephant.gif
Josey Wales: "And if you think intangibles really do exist, how in the F could you vote Ellsbury as the MVP?"
Adam J. Morris: "If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college."
love me some Naps
I’ll prob buy a Naps jersey this year. granted he may leave but I guess that’s the way baseball go.
Naps shirsey
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
"Baseball's all that's real" - JB
get a Darvish jersey
it will be good for six years
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 8:54 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
But if he tanks
then I’ve jinxed him. I expect him to be pretty awesome, but Japanese pitchers do have a track record.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 8:57 PM CST up reply actions
i just got a napoli shirsey
that id like to wear beyond next year. im also scared my andrus will only be good for a few more years too
by studcrackers on Feb 11, 2012 11:34 PM CST up reply actions
take it to Yankee stadium
and traded it in for a new one
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 11:40 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
I just got one, too
I hate The Angels so much, it's actually cramping my style. (See RevHaloFans SBN profile page)
by Gay For Feliz on Feb 12, 2012 7:33 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
"He is absolutely my favorite player"
1.00+ OPS
solid defense
not punching umpires
=
buy the nap jersey
I'm still thinking about it
but the 4 jerseys in almost brand new condition just collecting dust in my closet are taunting me right now. I’m really pissed they didn’t sign him to a long-term deal.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 9:02 PM CST up reply actions
meh
somebody else here knows more than I do about the probability of us signing for Napoli for another season after this one
I think some of it depends
on how much The Legend develops in the minors this season.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 9:11 PM CST up reply actions
I don't think that has much to do with it
He’s waaaaaaaay far away and we have no long-term 1B solution. Napoli’s probably a 1B by the time Alfaro is ready to arrive.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
I agree
So why didn’t they lock him up now? I’m trying to understand the line of thinking of the Rangers brass. Alfaro is 18 now, right? I thought maybe ownership was thinking they could let Nap walk at the end of this season if Alfaro is only a year or two away at the end of 2012 (and then go with a stopgap solution until he arrives). You’re absolutely correct Nap will add huge value at 1B/DH this season and beyond. The whole situation confuses me.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 9:18 PM CST up reply actions
why didn't they lock him up now?
well… I guess they could offer him 10yr/$200M
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:22 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Probably because Napoli doesn't want to be locked up right now
Unless the Rangers are willing to overpay him based on a career year. But paying guys based on career years generally doesn’t turn out too well, and the Rangers are a smart club who also have several other players to potentially worry about locking up.
My guess is Napoli wants to see if he can crank out another year like 2011 and see what he can turn that into on the open market, and the Rangers aren’t comfortable paying him the kind of dollars it would take to change his mind.
Now, what kind of figures we’d be talking in terms of what Naps would want to sign now I really don’t know, but the Rangers have shown themselves to be pretty shrewd of late in terms of realizing how much they should be paying guys and how much they shouldn’t be.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
by LSJ on Feb 11, 2012 9:27 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
We've known for awhile they weren't going to.
But if you really want the Napoli jersey, there is a line of thinking that suggests between cost, risk and age, Napoli is the most likely to be re-signed out of the Naps/Cruz/Hamilton trio.
Then again, we’ve just gone two straight offseasons without re-signing the guys we thought we were most likely to, so…
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
The Rangers front office
has greatly underwhelmed me with their (in)ability to lock up players long-term. Did anyone expect this when the Rangers were sold in 2010? Not me.
by Rangers Fan Mike on Feb 11, 2012 9:13 PM CST up reply actions
And Adrian Beltre.
They’ve given out a big contract per offseason since the change in ownership. They’e just been careful about keeping it within the general bounds of what’s reasonable.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
They're trying to avoid AJ Burnett/John Lackey/Vernon Wells
Dead money.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
they have been lucky with the MY contract
so far
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:34 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
That's Hicks' contract
New ownership inherited that one.
Football can go to hell. The Rangers aren't ready for football season and neither am I.
by WyoRanger on Feb 12, 2012 1:37 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
and learned from it.
"the PGT isn’t about alerting drunk guys on their mobile as to what the score was." --goET 7-24-11
"Replace Ace? Done. Ace's was too long anyway." --Micah 1-17-12
Pretty positive he was the GM then
But Hicks was the guy who dubbed him the FOF following the contract. Pure speculation but I’ve thought that contract was Hicks and probably Hart in his consulting role.
Football can go to hell. The Rangers aren't ready for football season and neither am I.
by WyoRanger on Feb 12, 2012 11:58 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Stop it...JD wears that one.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
by Josey Wales on Feb 12, 2012 12:06 PM CST up reply actions
CJ might be the only player they
have lost that an argument could be made for keeping him.
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:33 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
And I suppose it's possible that had Yu not been on the market, that wouldn't have happened
Although personally I think there was a bit more to it than that. Their disinterest in CJ seemed rather complete and utter.
I really don’t think they wanted him around after this season for some reason, be it clubhouse related, doubts about his long-term viability as a starter or some combination of both.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
I think we'd have Gio Gonazalez if Yu wasn't on the market.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
Not really the kind of reliable long-term workhorse they were looking for in Yu or Gio.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
I don't think Gio matches what they were looking for
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:51 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
He's young.
That’s what they were looking for.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
Holland, Harry and Feliz are young
they were looking for a TORP and/or veteran SP
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:55 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
No...
They were looking for someone young and with several years of control that had more than one decent season to their name.
They were very in on Gio according to nearly everyone on Earth. He was Plan B after Darvish.
"I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else." by Earl Weaver
I must be misremembering
could be blinded by my disdain for Oakland pitchers
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:58 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
I must have missed that EG tweet
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 9:56 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Gio was a top target before Yu was landed
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 10:10 PM CST up reply actions
I don't know
I think that the Rangers still push hard for Darvish if they’d traded for Gio.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 11, 2012 10:19 PM CST up reply actions
I'm so glad that didn't work out....
The cost was going to be too high for the Rangers…
"I never argue with people who say that baseball is boring, because baseball is boring. And then, suddenly, it isn’t. And that’s what makes it great." - Joe Posnanski
"And when Josh leaves, The Window closes." JW 2-9-12
by GhostofSteveFoucault on Feb 11, 2012 10:16 PM CST up reply actions
has any pitcher lived up to the hype
after leaving Oakland? Haren? Hudson?
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 10:19 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Dan Haren is pretty goddamn awesome
Hell, he was a 4 WAR pitcher in oakland. 6 in Arizona and LAAAAA
Just don't piss her off, otherwise she'll get all Dien Bien Phu up in your Boxer Rebellion - caknuck
btho Iowa State
by MonkeyEpoxy on Feb 12, 2012 12:46 AM CST up reply actions
Seems weird to scout someone for years
If he’s just a future fallback option.
Football can go to hell. The Rangers aren't ready for football season and neither am I.
by WyoRanger on Feb 12, 2012 1:42 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
The last two years (at least) of the Beltre deal will be unreasonable.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Don't become the '82 Milwaukee Brewers."
"You want false modesty? F that."
by Josey Wales on Feb 12, 2012 10:11 AM CST up reply actions
If we get enough value out of the front end (and we're off to a great start)
I can live with that.
Everything about people is the worst. - Jeff Sullivan
If you don't follow Napoli on Twitter, you should.
“Good girls go to heaven Bad girls go to Napoli.”
by RangerMad on Feb 11, 2012 10:39 PM CST via Android app reply actions 3 recs
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