[gunnersgun]

doing everything he can to give this game away...and looks like feldman now wants to join in on the act. ron washington we always expect to be trying this hardest to help the opposition

[5teamparlay]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-s...-verge-of-deal



ESPN.com: Red Sox


Monday, December 3, 2012
Source: Red Sox, Napoli strike deal
By Gordon Edes


The Boston Red Sox on Monday agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract with free agent first baseman/catcher Mike Napoli, a baseball source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told ESPNDallas.com.


Napoli a Fan of Fenway


Why do the Red Sox like Mike Napoli? His career numbers at Fenway Park, where he is 19-for-62 with 7 homers and 4 doubles in 74 plate appearances, seem to tell the story.


Mike Napoli, career by ballpark


Category Fenway Park Other
BA .306 .257
Slug pct .710 .501
ISO .404 .244
PA/HR 10.4 18.6
-- ESPN Stats & Information
Napoli, who visited Boston late last month, is expected to play primarily at first base for the Red Sox. He was identified early on as a logical target to fill the Sox's needs at first and gives the club another option behind the plate, if general manager Ben Cherington elects to shop Jarrod Saltalamacchia at the winter meetings.


WEEI.com earlier reported that Boston and Napoli were close to an agreement.


Napoli has never played more than 70 games at first base, which he did in 2010, when the Angels' Kendrys Morales fractured his leg in a freak accident and Napoli was pressed into duty as a replacement. This past season, he caught 72 games for the Rangers, but the most he has caught in his career is 96 games (2009), and at age 31, he might be receptive to making a more permanent position switch to first base.


"I just want to play," Napoli recently told ESPNDallas.com. "I feel the most comfortable behind the plate because that's where most of my reps have been. Do I think I can be good at first base if I had reps and practiced it all the time? Yes. But it's not like I'm saying I have to be a catcher. I just want to be in the lineup and play. If it helps at catcher, I'll catch, or at first base, I'll play there. But I like catching. I look at myself as catcher."