According to Ken Rosenthal, the Jays have traded for Angels catcher Mike Napoli. Details to be updated as they come out.
The deal appears to be Napoli and Juan Rivera for Vernon Wells, as reported by Rosenthal and confirmed by Mike Wilner. We still don't know how much cash the Jays are sending over.
Mike Napoli steps to the plate against the Jays at the Dome August 21, 2009. He would homer later in the game against Casey Janssen but the Jays would prevail over the Angels 5-4. Interestingly enough, Vernon Wells also went deep in the same contest.
Some Napoli facts:
He'll be a free agent after 2012 - he's a super-2 player in his third year of arbitration. He made $3.6M last year and will go to arbitration this year.
Blatant Fangraphs Stats Rip:
Napoli is a well above-average offensive catcher. A lower-than-normal BABIP brought his average down to .238 last year, but he still managed to put up a 114 RC+ thanks to excellent power. And before you whine "great, another low OBP, high SLG player", Napoli's .316 OBP last year was by far the worst of his career - previously his lowest mark was .350.
His defense, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. The fans scouting report rates his instincts and speed above his arm, but both are below average.
Prior to 2010, Napoli had never played a position other than catcher, but he got 70 games there in 2010. For what it's worth, his UZR/150 was above average in a very small sample size. Napoli will likely see time at catcher, first base and designated hitter, forming a sort of rotation with Lind, Arencibia and EE. You gotta think Lind won't be touching lefties with a ten foot pole.
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Vernon Wells Speculation Section
If the Vernon rumour is true, here's what it means.
Bautista will almost certainly stay in the outfield, as he prefers to. I suppose this makes it slightly more likely that EE is the starting third baseman, though I'm not sure the the 3B situation is all that affected - if the Jays really don't like EE at third they'll make another move, or maybe they really like Lawrie that much.
Davis should be the starting center fielder now, with Snider and Bautista flanking him. He'll have plenty of room to use that speed.
Several Jays bloggers have started salivating over Albert Pujols next off-season via Twitter. Obviously that would be, um, nice, but I still think he signs with the Cards.
The deal appears to be Napoli and Juan Rivera for Vernon Wells, as reported by Rosenthal and confirmed by Mike Wilner. We still don't know how much cash the Jays are sending over.
Mike Napoli steps to the plate against the Jays at the Dome August 21, 2009. He would homer later in the game against Casey Janssen but the Jays would prevail over the Angels 5-4. Interestingly enough, Vernon Wells also went deep in the same contest.
Some Napoli facts:
He'll be a free agent after 2012 - he's a super-2 player in his third year of arbitration. He made $3.6M last year and will go to arbitration this year.
Blatant Fangraphs Stats Rip:
Napoli is a well above-average offensive catcher. A lower-than-normal BABIP brought his average down to .238 last year, but he still managed to put up a 114 RC+ thanks to excellent power. And before you whine "great, another low OBP, high SLG player", Napoli's .316 OBP last year was by far the worst of his career - previously his lowest mark was .350.
His defense, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. The fans scouting report rates his instincts and speed above his arm, but both are below average.
Prior to 2010, Napoli had never played a position other than catcher, but he got 70 games there in 2010. For what it's worth, his UZR/150 was above average in a very small sample size. Napoli will likely see time at catcher, first base and designated hitter, forming a sort of rotation with Lind, Arencibia and EE. You gotta think Lind won't be touching lefties with a ten foot pole.
-----
Vernon Wells Speculation Section
If the Vernon rumour is true, here's what it means.
Bautista will almost certainly stay in the outfield, as he prefers to. I suppose this makes it slightly more likely that EE is the starting third baseman, though I'm not sure the the 3B situation is all that affected - if the Jays really don't like EE at third they'll make another move, or maybe they really like Lawrie that much.
Davis should be the starting center fielder now, with Snider and Bautista flanking him. He'll have plenty of room to use that speed.
Several Jays bloggers have started salivating over Albert Pujols next off-season via Twitter. Obviously that would be, um, nice, but I still think he signs with the Cards.
