August 7, 2015

Mike Napoli Traded to Rangers

Gordon Edes, ESPN:
Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli, who on multiple occasions expressed hope that he could stay in Boston, has been traded to the Texas Rangers with cash considerations in a waiver deal, the teams announced Friday.

The Red Sox will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to a Rangers news release.
Rob Bradford, WEEI:
Mike Napoli, one of the heroes of the Red Sox 2013 World Series championship, was traded on Friday to the Rangers, according to multiple major league sources.

There's no word yet on what the Red Sox received in return, or how much of his prorated $16 million salary, if any, they'll assume. A source said Napoli agreed to waive his no-trade clause, which included Texas and Seattle, to facilitate the deal.

The 33-year-old has struggled for much of the season, batting .207 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs. His defense has also taken a step back at first base. ...

He also blasted two of the most pivotal homers of the [2013] postseason — a solo shot off Justin Verlander accounted for the only run in Game 3 of the ALCS, as well as bomb to dead center off of Anibal Sanchez that started the Red Sox on their way to a 4-3 victory in Game 5.

1 comment:

Maxwell Horse said...

I have to say, it's pretty annoying how people have waxed nostalgic with the departure of both Victorino and Napoli (we couldn't have won 2013 without you!), yet people just shrugged their shoulders when Nava was let go. He had just as much to do with the 2013 championship as those two. But I guess he wasn't wacky enough and he didn't have facial hair. Also, Napoli took his shirt off! It was crazy!

One could make the more numbers-based argument that Nava was easy to forget because he didn't contribute much to the team since 2013. But then again, Napoli and Vic have been largely useless the past couple years as well.