Mike Napoli resigns with Red Sox: Deal reportedly worth 32 million over 2 seasons

Good news Red Sox fans you will not need to bid adieu to Mike Napoli or his beard before the 2015 season. Why? Because as December 6th came to a close, the Boston Red Sox announced that they had signed the bearded 1st basemen to a substantial 32 million dollar 2 year contract that will hand him a hefty average annual salary of 16 million dollars. By comparison that is 11 million more than the contract that brought him in for the 2013 season and yet as we awake this morning there is no question that Napoli deserves 16 million. 

It seems like ages ago when we were questioning the capabilities of Napoli. It seems moronic that we were asking those questions. How well will he play 1st base? Will his hip hold up? Will we regret trading Adrian Gonzolez? By the midpoint of the 2013 season we were suddenly blessed with the answers to those questions. Yes, yes and no. 

Napoli caught fire in Boston as even with 2 catastrophic slumps that punctuated his season, Mike Napoli and the man who hit one spot ahead of him in the lineup (David Ortiz) packed a one two punch better than any other. Through a combined 276 games played, Papi and Napoli rammed up 195 RBI's going 1 two on the team leaders list in that category. They combined to collect hits on 28% of the pitches thrown to them and on 53 different occasions hit the ball out of the yard. 

All season long and even more so, Mike Napoli was the security package for the Boston DH and used that position in the lineup to drive both himself and as we know David Ortiz to greatness. But Ortiz is not the only thing that solicited Napoli's love for the city of Boston. He and his beard grew (pun intended) on any and all who even looked at this team and began one of the weirdest but unquestionably uniting traditions we have seen in a while. Furthermore, he never questioned his coach and or complained about anything to do with his play. For that reason he, even while struggling under a slump in which he compiled just 5 RBI's in 20 games, never had to endure the sound of any boo birds in Fenway.

“It’s a great fit for me,” Napoli said following the Series. “This is where I want to stay and I want to work something out. I love playing here, everything about it.”

It is a rare occasion when a player who strikes out as much as Napoli does channels so much love from his fans and yet in the days between the end of the season and now, the majority of Red Sox nation was literally scared that they might not be getting Mike back. Everyone loves him, recognizing not only his on the field defensive and offensive prowess but also his mood changing attitude that he carries with him at all times.

"Took ya long enough," Jon Lester said via Twitter last night but he was not the only person with a part in this situation to express his thoughts via Twitter.

For those who have not already seen, Mike Napoli himself personally came online to recognize his adopted city.  "The beard is coming back to Boston!!! Couldn't be happier!!" He posted just after 9:00 PM Friday night. 

Those tweets are good, the beards are good, and yet the biggest example of his love for Boston was the fact that Napoli left money on the table to stay with Boston as ESPN's Gordan Edes reported that either the Seattle Mariners or the Texas Rangers offered a payment larger than the 32 million dollar pay day dished out by the Red Sox. 

When the Red Sox assembled their "dream team" in 2011, they were a collection of human beings the only reason for their presence being the huge sums of money Theo Epsteen paid for them. In 2013 the Red Sox were a team brought together by the love of their fans and the game they played. In 2011, the lack of camaraderie within this clubhouse caused one of the worst collapses in baseball history while in 2013, the beards the walk-offs and Mike Napoli won it all.

You tell me which method is more advantageous for a team’s success.

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Jacoby Ellsbury sings 7 year 153 million dollar deal with Yankees: Looking at what the signing means for both teams

Red Sox fans went to sleep Thursday night, buzzing with the anticipation of what new signing AJ Piezynski could bring to Boston and their imaginations spinning thrilling images of the new catcher creaming opposing catchers at the Fenway home plate. When they woke up on Wednesday morning their mood was instantly soured by a deed committed by Jacoby Ellsbury that in Red Sox nation is all but a cardinal sin. He signed with the New York Yankees.  

At exactly 8:39 eastern stranded time, Jacoby Ellsbury abandoned the team that had nurtured him to greatness and had given him 2 championship rings opting to instead march off to the one team they hated most. But can we blame him? 

Ellsbury who played in 7 different seasons with Boston and started 715 regular season games soon became one of the league's premier outfielders using his incomparable speed to track down anything that soared into his expansive center field grass. Because of that calmness with his glove, Ellsbury committed just 8 errors during his tenure with Boston while compiling 1,708 putouts and 19 assists. But as we look back on these wonderful years, it was not even his defense that made Jacoby Ellsbury so great. 

Using the same speed that gave him that center field ownership, Jacoby beat together 241 stolen bases and led the AL in that category 3 times the best of those seasons being one in which he compiled 70 thefts. There was never a doubt about Jacoby's on the field skill set but at the same time we always knew that the Beantown superstar was never fully contempt with his insane fame. He was isolated, and rarely talked to his teammates. He stayed out of the spotlight as best he could and if you look back on his days here, it was a rare occasion when someone was able to pry a useful quote out of any interactions with the media he had. To draw a comparison between Ellsbury's on the field and off the field goings on, one must simply look to the position he played. 

Where Ellsbury played in center field was often over 300 feet away from home plate while still beyond speaking distance away from the stands which stood a whopping 488 feet away from home. He was never within 100 feet of second basemen Dustin Pedroia and never even had to call for fly balls. When guys saw him coming they got out of the way no questioned asked. He did not have to deal with reading signs from his coaches meaning no shifts, no intentionally dropped balls and no coach advised description as to when he must utilize his cannon arm. For a guy with a personality that necessitates isolation, center field is the perfect position and yet in the end it was that isolation that likely caused his discomfort with Boston and by extension moved him to NY. 

So what now?

Jacoby is gone, taken away by the 3rd largest outfield contract in the history of baseball and so we now look to the guys in the wings and on the market asking one bold question. Who now fills the void and how to we cope with the fastest player in the league now playing against us 19 times a year? Unfortunately, that question really does not have much of an answer.  

Instead we have Jackie Bradly Jr. After he was drafted by the Red Sox back in 2011, the now 23 year old prospect marched up the ranks and actually began the year ahead of Sox current top prospect Xander Boagerts. This kind of recognition was breed via a spectacular preseason put up by Bradley in which he hit .419 with 12 RBI's in 62 at bats. However, that success did not directly translate into regular season prosperity. He played just over a month of baseball to start the season and while his okay glove and Ellsbury like speed did help in him the field, Bradley's offence was abysmal as he knocked up just 3 hits and no RBI's through 31 April at bats which was good enough to hand him a monthly batting average of .097 as well as a demotion back to Pawtucket. In time, his offence did get better and by the end of the year and after finally fighting his way back to Boston in order to fill the void left by a late season Ellsbury hand injury Bradly did manage to hike his average up to a still horrendous .189. 

I ask you this is that the guy you want replacing one of the best in the game? 

Well according to a recent Sports Nation ESPN poll , the answer is yes, 85% of the nation believes that the Red Sox were right in letting Ellsbury go and in turn believe that Bradley will not be an achilles heel to this team that will hopefully make a good run at defending their crown as champions come next October.  

But there is hope that the Sox will get some more veteran skill in outfield as they did last off-season. First and foremost we have free agent, Shin-Soo Choo who like Ellsbury uses speed to excel both defensively and offensively. He stole 20 bases in 2013 and commuted just 4 errors in 150 games played. Furthermore there is Matt Kemp who while he is currently under contract with the Dodgers, it seems to be true that the Dodgers want him out of town meaning that a small piece such as Ryan Dempster might be enough to bring the slugger to Boston.  

153 million dollars is a lot of money and lets face it, we cannot blame Ben Cherrington for refusing to fork it over. But the Sox and their fans will miss Jacoby Ellsbury and so, the boos will rain down whether we want them to or not. 

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