Player A: .222 BA, .288 OBP, 25 HR, 59 RBI, 17 2B, 55 R, 38 BB
Player B: .227 BA, .343 OBP, 24 HR, 56 RBI, 9 2B, 53 R, 56 BB
Which player would you go with? Are 18 more walks worth more to you than 8 more doubles? And if I told you one player was under contract for $2.5 million last season, and the other got $9.4 million and he's up for a 3-4 year, $40-50 million deal, would that influence your decision?
Or do you think both options are total shit? Be honest now.
If you haven't guessed by now, Player A is Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Player B is Mike Napoli. While Salty looks like he's out of the discussion for catching options next season, there are reports that say the Red Sox are interested in entering the Mike Napoli, uh, sweepstakes.
Why?
I've been critical of Salty, but if Sox could pay him $8-10 million over two years to give them almost the exact same production that Napoli can provide, why has the discussion shifted to possibly giving Napoli a $40-50 million, multiyear deal? Why? Because Napoli can catch every once in a while? Because he can get 18 more walks than Salty? Because he can pump up his Fenway stats by hitting .600 against Jon Lester? Why?
Does overpaying Mike Napoli to put on a Red Sox uniform for four years make sense to anybody? When Saltalamacchia provides a fractionally worse option for a fraction of the price, how in the world does signing Mike Napoli make any sense at all?
Personally -- and you can call me crazy -- but I think Mauro Gomez can give you a better season, offensively and defensively, than both of these guys. If you want a more legit option at first base, the safe money lies with overpaying Adam LaRoche (an option I'm not against). But even if the options were whittled down to just Salty and Napoli, you still pick Saltalamacchia. I simply cannot comprehend or understand why we're seriously discussing bringing Mike Napoli to the Red Sox. I just don't get it.
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