Red Sox Hopeful They Can Complete Napoli Deal

It's been more than a month since the Red Sox and Mike Napoli initially reached an agreement on a three-year, $39MM contract, but that deal has yet to be finalized. The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham writes that the Red Sox are still working on getting a deal finalized, and the team is hopeful it will get done. It's been believed that a hip injury has held up the deal's completion.

Boston has since engaged in discussions with the representatives for Adam LaRoche. Abraham writes that Napoli hasn't talked with other teams in this time, though there were reports to the contrary last month. Back on Dec. 27, Mike Axisa polled MLBTR readers, and 57 percent of respondents thought that the deal would fall through and Napoli would sign elsewhere.

The 31-year-old Napoli is just one year removed from a .320/.414/.631 season in which he belted 30 homers for the Rangers. That production dropped significantly in 2012, though his .227/.343/.469 line and 24 long balls were more than respectable. Boston plans to use Napoli as its primary first baseman, though he'd previously stated his preference was to remain behind the dish.