With free agent first baseman/outfielder Mark Trumbo potentially on his way out of Baltimore, the club is showing interest in fellow unsigned slugger Mike Napoli, relays Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Several teams have eyed Napoli this offseason, though his market shrunk when his 2016 employer – Cleveland – agreed to a deal with first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion on Thursday.
As is the case with both Trumbo and Encarnacion, Napoli represents a powerful first base/DH option, but he’d likely spend most of his time at the latter spot if the Orioles were to sign him. Chris Davis is entrenched at first, and his presence led the O’s to use Trumbo mostly in right field and at DH in 2016. While Trumbo fared poorly in the grass (minus-11 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-12.5 UZR/150 in 791 innings), his positional flexibility enabled the Orioles to consistently pencil him, Davis and DH Pedro Alvarez into their lineup simultaneously. In return, the Orioles got a major league-best 47 home runs from Trumbo, who batted .256/.316/.533 with a .277 ISO (third in the league) in 667 plate appearances.
With 34 homers and a .226 ISO, Napoli wasn’t quite the power threat Trumbo was in 2016, but his overall output (.239/.335/.465 in 645 PAs) was nonetheless respectable. Further, Napoli has been the more productive of the two since 2011, Trumbo’s rookie season. Napoli slashed .252/.366/.477 in 3,041 trips to the plate during that six-year span, while Trumbo posted a .252/.304/.473 line in 3,411 PAs. Going forward, the 35-year-old Napoli is likely to net a raise over the $7MM salary he made with the Indians last season, but he should still come at both a shorter term and lower annual cost than Trumbo (31 in January).
If the Orioles do indeed regard the well-traveled Napoli as a worthy option, Texas could serve as a roadblock in landing him. The Rangers are reportedly a “strong possibility” to reel in Napoli, and there’s mutual familiarity stemming from his multiple stints with the organization. Napoli was a Ranger from 2011-12 and again for a 35-game stretch in 2015.
35 games in 2015, what about all of 2011 and 2012?
They mentioned that in the article
Not at the time I posted the comment
Baltimore just showing Trumbo they have options; they’ll come back to him.
Hope not Napoli is an upgrade over Trumbo.
Not. Even. Close. Napoli is projected as almost replacement in 2017. Struck out 200 times last year and can’t catch up to a good fastball. And is maybe the worst 1b in baseball.
Minor correction, but Baseball Reference has Trumbo’s career slugging % at .473, not .345.
While reading this, a .345 slugging percentage for a pure power hitter seemed rather low.
Weird error on my part, but it’s fixed. Thanks, Michael.
That Trumbo guy must be a slick fielding SS with that .252/.304/.345 line lol
He’s a regular Jose Iglesias.
don’t be hating on José, even though he does suck on offense
Not many with Jose’ glove anywhere
As an O’s fan, I like the idea of Napoli. I prefer him over Trumbo. You can get him at a lower rate
Ok MLBTR I just typed this long comment and you post the first sentence of it for me thanks lol
Os fan that is Angelos warped
Anyway, I’ll take Napoli of Trumbo any day. Cheaper, less of a commitment, similar power output, better on base percentage, full-time DH. No more junk in RF. Also, We’ll get draft compensation when Trumbo signs elsewhere. This move is a no-brainer. Make it happen Orioles.
really you forgot that choked in the world series maybe if Cleveland had trumbo in the w.s.maybe Cleveland wound be world champs instead of the cubs!
Naw.
Heck I remember the 1014-15 years in Boston… aweful
Agree 100%. O’s need to ditch Trumbo and go with Napoli
I can’t even get a comment in with this new junk samsung.
p.s.gem I’m glad your not g.m. for my favorite team nap.is past his prime trumbo just starting to his stride.
Note 7?
no not the self destruct model just another Android junk phone.
How do you see Napoli as an upgrade over Trumbo? The only need the O’s would have for Napoli would be as DH. In that respect along Trumbo has much more power and is closer to the upside of his career than Napoli..
Can you imagine Napoli and Davis back to back? Hope Balt like high K numbers…