Comments on: Mike Napoli not close to returning from disabled list

By: beefytrout

beefytrout — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:36:41 +0000

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Mauer hitting 6th, behind Cruz. And yeah, he would mash at the Ballpark. But personally, I don’t know if I’d pay Hamilton $23 mil a year until 2018, let alone Mauer.

By: antlerclaws

antlerclaws — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:07:35 +0000

Just a thought. Mauer would probably hit a lot better in Arlington that he does at Target Field. Rangers are probably going to have to acquire a catcher in the off-season unless they get Napoli on the cheap.

By: beefytrout

beefytrout — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:25:01 +0000

Not at $23mil a year for the next 7 years. No way.

By: antlerclaws

antlerclaws — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:03:18 +0000

Rangers could claim Joe Mauer off waivers; Napoli’s gone after this year anyway, why not lock up Mauer for the playoffs and a few years after that? It’s not like they don’t have the money.

By: hackerjay

hackerjay — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:24:42 +0000

I think his problems with Texas in catching the runners must be an issue of getting used to the new pitching staff. He’s always been pretty good at throwing guys out, and with the Cubs this year he was right at the league average. I would expect him to get better.

By: beefytrout

beefytrout — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:51:29 +0000

To his credit, Soto has been hitting the ball much better as of late. The problem is that you can pretty much steal bases at will on the dude.

By: stex52

stex52 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:30:27 +0000

Mike Napoli leads my list of “players most likely to regret testing the free agent market.” His stats for this year are not even up to career average. I have the feeling he could have cut a pretty generous deal with Texas last winter, and now his expectations will be much more middle of the pack. Everybody will still look at a catcher who can bat .700+ OPS, but his timing could have been better.

By: storebrandcookies

storebrandcookies — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:29:26 +0000

Soto has been a nice addition but if he gets injured for a few games, the Rangers don’t have a viable option as a backup to Soto. I hope Napoli can get back to form by mid September and get some at-bats in so he can be ready for the playoffs.