Mike Napoli who was primarily a first baseman and catcher has retired. Napoli played for the Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and the Cleveland Indians. Napoli played for 12 seasons and ended his career with 1,125 hits, 224 doubles, 11 triples, 267 homeruns, and 744 RBI. He produced a slash line of .246/.346/.475 and a .821 On-Base + Slugging percentage.
Mike Napoli was drafted by the Angels in the 17th round of the 2000 Baseball draft as a catcher. Napoli made his first career start on May 4, 2006 against the Detroit Tigers and in his first at bat in the top of the 3rd inning he hit a homerun off of Justin Verlander. Mike Napoli played on the Angels for 5 years from 2006-2010 and in 506 games, he hit 79 doubles, 4 triples, and 92 homeruns during his tenure with the Angels. Napoli also, drove in 249 runs and stole 21 bases and worked a slash line of .251/.346/.485. Napoli mostly played at catcher with some time at first base during his tenure. Napoli also, drove in 249 runs and stole 21 bases and worked a slash line of .251/.346/.485.
On January 21,2011 the Angels traded Mike Napoli along with outfielder Juan Rivera to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Vernon Wells. The Blue Jays ended up flipping Napoli 4 days later to the Texas Rangers for relief pitcher Frank Francisco. That year in 2011 according to bWar(Baseball Reference, Wins Above Replacement) Napoli had his best season with a 5.5 WAR. He played in 113 games that year and hit 25 doubles, 30 homeruns and drove in 75 runs while producing a slash line of .320/.414/.631. Mike Napoli helped the Rangers reach the World Series that year, but ultimately fell to the St. Louis Cardinals. The following year with the Rangers he was an All-Star, but his numbers were not as good as the 2011 season.
Mike Napoli was a free agent in 2013 and signed with the Boston Red Sox and was no longer a catcher and helped the Red Sox win the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. During the 2015 season the Texas Rangers would acquire Napoli to help them in their division race which they would ultimately win the American League West in 2015. Napoli did not play much with the Rangers when they acquired him and he was set to be a free agent after the 2015 season. Mike Napoli signed a 1 year-deal with the Cleveland Indians in January of 2016 and would hit a career high in homeruns with 34 and drove in a career high in runs with 101. The Indians made it to the World Series in 2016 and ultimately fell short to the Chicago Cubs in game 7. Mike Napoli would play one last season in the big leagues in 2017 and he signed a deal with the Texas Rangers and he showed he still had power as he hit 29 homeruns, but his average was low and hit a career worst .193. Napoli would try to play in 2018 after signing a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians, but in a minor league game he tore his ACL and was out for the season.
Mike Napoli made the decision to retire on December 8, 2018. I wish him the best in retirement.
Featured Image: (Photo by Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Garrett Gutierrez
December 12, 2018 at 2:04 am
I remember my family and I being real bummed out the day Napoli was traded–especially because it was to the damn Rangers! Solid catcher, solid career.