With Russell Martin as a free agent in 2013, the New York Yankees are going after the best catcher in the market as rumors of their interest in signing catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli have swirled.
Napoli, who played the last two seasons with the Texas Rangers, is one of the best hitting catchers in majors. Well, best hitting power catchers in the majors.
He can hit over 20 homers, but will strikeout a lot and has been inconsistent as far as batting average.
In the past five seasons, Napoli has hit over 20 homers and averaging 24 home runs in that time span. Napoli hit .320 in 2011, but he almost hit .100 points lower in 2012 posting a .227 batting average.
However, as we have noticed from the Yankees' batting lineup, if you have some pop, they will sign you.
Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Martin all hit under .250 in 2012 and they were in the lineup day after day.
Mike Napoli has been successful in playoff baseball, which is always the focus in New York. In 2011, Napoli hit two home runs and drove in 10 RBI against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series while hitting .350.
The Yankees could have certainly used some of that magic in this postseason as they were terribly shutdown in the playoffs.
The entire team hit a bad funk at the same time and they could not produce runs. Though Napoli will not likely raise the team's batting average, he could provide the same pop as Martin and that which Alex Rodriguez will lack as he continues to age.
Oh yeah, and behind the plate, Napoli provided a reliable catcher only committing three errors in his 72 games caught. He did a so-so job catching 21 percent of base stealers.
The Boston Red Sox are also in on Napoli. So it will be interesting to see who will win this race.
