After revitalizing his career with the Texas Rangers at the end of 2015, Mike Napoli will be suiting up for the Cleveland Indians next season.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports broke the news of Napoli’s agreement with the Indians, adding that the veteran slugger is expected to be the team’s everyday first baseman. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that Napoli’s deal with Cleveland is for $7 million guaranteed with up to $3 million more in incentives.
At the start of last season, Napoli’s career looked like it was nearing the finish line. The 34-year-old hit just .207/.307/.386 in 98 games as a member of the Boston Red Sox but would quickly turn things around after an August trade to Texas. He hit .295/.396/.513 in 35 games to help the Rangers make the postseason.
One thing Texas was able to take advantage of was Napoli’s platoon splits, which general manager Jon Daniels noted after the team brought him back, via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com:
Napoli is a guy who has always hit left-handers. He has been very productive against them this season. That’s something we have struggled with. He is a guy who we know will fit our culture with his makeup. There will be a minimum transition period. He gives us presence and power against left-handers. It made sense for us.
Though he raked lefties, Napoli hit a paltry .191/.283/.320 in 256 at-bats against right-handed pitching last year, according to Baseball-Reference.com. He’ll need to improve those numbers substantially to be quality everyday player.
Even with the limitations to Napoli’s game at this stage of his career, he’s still doing a lot of the things that made him a feared hitter in his prime. The former All-Star walked in 12.2 percent of his plate appearances and hit 18 home runs in 469 at-bats, according to FanGraphs.
Right-handed power is something the Indians desperately needed to add this offseason. Yan Gomes led the team’s right-handed hitters with 12 home runs last year, while switch-hitter Carlos Santana had just four of his 19 homers from the right side.
Santana has been Cleveland’s primary first baseman the last two years, but he’s not a good defender at the position, with minus-eight defensive runs saved since 2014, according to FanGraphs. Meanwhile, Napoli is a career plus-20 in defensive runs saved at first base.
There’s no surprise to Napoli’s game—he’s going to see a lot of pitches, strike out a lot and provide some power—but as long as he continues to produce at a rate closer to what he did with Texas than with Boston last season, this will be a successful deal for Cleveland.
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