NEWSFLASH: Rangers Trade Frank Francisco For Mike Napoli
The other shoe has dropped on the still-smoldering Vernon Wells trade, and it involves the Rangers in a trade that probably -- although not certainly -- makes them better in 2011 with minimal financial impact, but adds a little shake and wobble to a bullpen that is a little more dependent on good fortune than it was at the beginning of the day.
Per multiple sources (including FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, who first broke the story on Twitter this afternoon), Texas has acquired catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right-hander Frank Francisco and a sum of cash reported to be less than $1 million. Given that Napoli will likely be due something between $5.5 million and $6 million in arbitration, and that Francisco will net what I think will be a little more than $4 million, the Rangers are incurring a total payroll hit of $2.5 million, or thereabouts -- less than what they offered Jim Thome, and probably comparable to what they may or may not have offered Manny Ramirez. Texas no longer requires a free-agent slugger in that vein, so this can be viewed as money the Rangers were already willing to spend to upgrade their offense/depth.
In exchange for that payroll hit and the relinquishment of Francisco's services, the Rangers get a multi-positional piece with two remaining years of club control (though he may only be a one-year player here, depending on his performance and projected role going into the 2011-12 off-season), solid power, and some on-base utility -- one who you would think would constitute one-half of a platoon set-up at first base with Mitch Moreland, receive some scattered plate appearances at DH, and get a little playing time at catcher, perhaps amounting to 300-350 plate appearances at the very least and more if he furnishes the offensive punch that he's capable of providing. On this team, that's a very useful piece.
[For those curious on Napoli's 2011 offensive projections, ZiPS has Napoli pegged at .251/.336/.489 next season, FANS has him down at .258/.340/.463, and Bill James -- arguably the most dubious projection set of the three -- has him forecasted at .246/.336/.479.]
Granted, this trade doesn't come without its own set of consequences. Losing Francisco, a very capable eighth- and ninth-inning man over the last three seasons, undermines the overall strength/reliability of the bullpen and heightens the necessity of Tanner Scheppers, Japanese import Yoshinori Tateyama, Mark Lowe, and/or Pedro Strop emerging as quality relief options this season, as Texas is now left with Neftali Feliz (who very likely won't be moving to the rotation now that Francisco is out of the mix), Alexi Ogando, and Darren O'Day as their only assured right-handed relievers in the Opening Day bullpen. If one of those guys doesn't step up in Francisco's absence, and the resultant impact is several high-profile late-inning collapses early in the season, this trade isn't going to look quite so bright and sunny as it does right now.
That will be then, though, and this is now, and right now the Rangers have converted a good late-inning reliever into a nice-fitting power bat that all but finalizes the position-player side of the Rangers' Opening Day roster. You can see this trade not working out, but it's easier to view the more positive side of this deal, and sitting here right now it's easier to argue that the benefits imparted by Napoli exceed the costs than vice versa.
Analysis, NEWSFLASH, Transactions
Reader Comments (85)
Love it, love it, love it.
Does this give Scheppers the inside track to make the pen out of Spring Training?
Will he be our 25th man or is this a possible first wave introducing another move?
I think I like him as our 25th man, and what an awesome smack against the Angels.
So where does that leave Moreland, is he next?
I KNEW they were going to trade one of their relievers - they had to. Great move, methinks! It'll be interesting to see what happens with Moreland and/or Davis.
Well you guys liked Napoli ...Rosenthal/Fox by way of Newberg claim you got him...we'll see how this works out.
RE: Scheppers, I think this makes room in the bullpen for Mark Lowe.
Feliz
Ogando
Rhodes
Oliver
O'Day
Lowe
Long Man (loser in the 5th starter battle)
RE: Moreland: Napoli is a RH bat who kills lefties and struggles against righties. He spells Moreland against tough righties, and Catches some, and is the RH PH complement to David Murphy's LH PH option.
Napoli is a good hitter against lefties. .966 ops. Part time DH, part time first base or late inning pinch hitter for our weak hitting catchers? Good deal, numbers should go up hitting at the Ballpark.
plus, what about the Japanese guy the rangers signed. This is a classic "trade from strength" move. GREAT play. Particularly since I'm not confident in Treanor catching 80 games.
Man this is agreat deal for the rangers Napoli can fill alot of spots & be a great insurance policy!! He add alot of pop at from the 7th or 8th spot in the lineup & he can hit higher if needed!! Wow can't believe the rangers got him for an injury prone relif pitcher wow what a great deal!!
Could this open to a Napoli and Murphy to Cards for Rasmus move to make room for Vlad?
Or a Treanor trade to make room for Vlad on the 25 man?
Are we sure this trade was FF for Napoli straight up?
Or is there some other information?
This is awesome. I kinda feared Napoli with the Angels.
I wonder if Napoli is the 25th man or this spells the end of Matt treanor? In the end I like Matt treanor but I don't think it matters because he is an obivous upgrade over treanor or anything else the rangers had to fill this spot!!
Looks like the Rangers kicked in sone cash. Still love this move. JD is very good at these secret moves.
Joe the rangers sent Frankie & an undisclosed amout of cash!!
Great deal...part-time RH 1B/3rd Catcher/DH who crushes lefties. Loved Franky but this was an area of strength for the Rangers. His best year was 2008 when he got 227 AB. This leaves MY as a mainly full-time DH doesn't disrupt Moreland's playing time much. But if Moreland struggles then Napoli has already proved he can be productive in a larger role.
I think there is something else going on here. Would be surprised if there is not another move announced later today or tomorrow.
Good move. Ergot a good rh bat for a cost but not a prohibitive one.
Good move...righty bat who can at least wear the tools of ignorance here and there.
Cant wait to see Napoli terrorizing the LA pitchers. Halos management has to be kicking itself a bit now haha
This ain't over yet Ranger Fans... prepair for a BIG one, as in Trade. NOW heavy at DH,1B and catcher.
Still neededing that ACE... who's the secret pitcher? Stealth steal away from Angels. JD had to have an inside card in that Jays trade to LA. Holding back on a FF sign was calculated for sure. NEXT?
The trade makes sense as it stands. Moreland & Napoli platoon at 1B, with Napoli getting some work at C. I would imagine that Treanor will be released. Moving Franky makes room for Lowe and the Japanese guy to duke it out Franky's spot - and of course there are the rumblings that Feliz will be given a chance at the rotation, which would mean the bullpen would have 2 open spots. Texas has quite a few guys who can set up if Ogando is the closer.
Exciting move - Napoli always seems to kill Texas, and it'll be nice having that bat on our side this year.
I kind of think JD might be looking to deal O'Day as well. I can't imagine they would carry 2 RH submariners in a 7-man 'pen, and the Japanese guy is a RH submariner.
As for Treanor being released, this makes a lot of sense to me. Torrealba is one of those uncommon but not unheard of "reverse split" bats. Last year, the RH Torrealba hit .227 against LHP, but .287 against RHP. His 3-year splits show a similar trend. And Torrealba is considered something like a 100-game Catcher. Napoli, meanwhile, is a .966 OPS hitter against LHP. Straight platoon, with Torrealba getting ~100 starts against RHP, and Napoli ~60 against LHP?
Wow, that looks awesome Scooby about the splits. Tough day for Treanor though, tough day.
Are you sure they would accept Napoli's inferior defense for up to 60 games a year behind the plate though for his great offensive numbers against lefties?
Could this open to a Napoli and Murphy to Cards for Rasmus move to make room for Vlad?
Is this serious?
Super move by JD. This probably ends the off-season's major transactions. I think the roster can be filled out quite nicely now with what we'll have showing up in Surprise. This might be the most complete lineup of any team outside of the Spankees and Red Sox, and who's to say it won't end up better than those teams also. I think we're the co-favorites with Boston in the AL.
WTG, JD. The team is stronger now and without selling the farm to do it. How much did the FF arbitration scenario have to do with this trade?
Here's that right-handed bat off the bench, except for the fact that Napoli can be used in so many places. We always have to be congnizant of injuries with this team, and now the Rangers have arguably the best depth of any team out there. There's no more getting "stuck" when having to deal with those injuries.
I actually see Treanor sticking around, again for the same reason as stated above...depth. Not unheard of for a team to carry three catchers. I actually see Napoli moving around more than Young at this point. MY better start embracing that DH role wholeheartedly.
One more question. How many years of club control do the Rangers still have on Napoli?
I'm not sure exactly how the playing time will work out, but Napoli certainly seems to fit better than either Vlad or Manny. You'd have to think that at some point those guys would have been upset at a reduced # of PAs (I'd probably still prefer them, but there's less of a headache from a logistics standpoint).
Joey,
Not serious on that one, got my wires crossed.
Joe
One more question. How many years of club control do the Rangers still have on Napoli?
Two, although Napoli is going to make something in the vicinity of $5.5-6.0M this year, and will probably be due $7M in 2012 ... that's a lot of money for a bench bat, assuming that he still is a bench bat at that point, and could make him a non-tender/trade candidate after 2011.
Joe - Napoli has two years remaining. Actually they're years 3 (this year) and 4 of arbitration. Like Darren O'Day, he was a "Super 2" guy.
per Evan Grant's twitter, Daniels said "As I sit here today" he plans to open season with Torrealba, Treanor and Napoli all on active roster.
I suspect we'll see more Napoli behind the plate than we perhaps think.
Now we get to play with line-ups with Napoli in there against tough lefties. So here goes...
SS Andrus
DH Young
LF Hamilton
3B Beltre
RF Cruz
2B Kinsler
1B Napoli
C Yorvit
CF Borbon
Or perhaps...
C- Napoli
1B- Moreland
CF- Borbon
It seems to me that it might make more sense to trade Treanor to open a spot for Vlad with Napoli catching against LHP only (who would go for up to 90 games and almost 400 PA's in the scenario All in for Johnson set out in the Vlad will sign with Rangers thread).
Then perhaps trade Murphy, but then you lose the lefty bat off the bench so maybe not. But that would be a sick offense. To do it we would have to get a lot for Murphy because he has three years of control left and is an above average hitter. Maybe Borbon and Murphy for Rasmus and at least a good pitching prospect? I'm not sure about Rasmus' defense but I think that could be a fair trade for adding his offensive numbers and upside potential.
All this talk about JD standing pat now could mean something or it could mean nothing. At any given moment he could be willing to go to ST with what he's got, that doesn't mean the next minute he is not going to be trading someone in a freaking secret trade. So I don't put much stock in JD saying "as I stand now," that's just code for "I havent made my next move yet."
So, exactly how am I going to go to work with this massive hard on?
Get ready for more POWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOW!!!!
How about Julio Borbon + Treanor for Grady Sizemore??
eh?
JD, JD, JD, JD, JD, JD!!!!!
Josh is getting a run for the MVP of this team.
At this point if JD were to throw one pitch in one game, I'd say he is the odds on favorite for MVP.
Wow this is GREAT! a big FU to tonny and the Angles
sucks for treanor and tracy tho
I was thinking about whether we get Napoli ealier today... I love this move both ways... I have aman crush on Napoli, and I think FF is injury-prone and on a downward slope.
Assuming Treanor passes waivers (which I assume he would) can't we just have him waiting in Frisco in case YT 0r MN gets injured?
I'm not so sure Treanor would clear waivers, but I think it makes a lot of sense. Except that I don't know just HOW bad Napoli is at Catcher. I hear some pretty terrible things about his defense. I would expect so, otherwise an .800+ OPS Catcher who can jack 25+ HRs would be a damn valuable commodity.
I LOVE IT!
Napoli is the PERFECT complement to this bench. He's versatile, swings a big bat, is RH, and sets the stage for the next big move of trading away MY. I'm telling you MY is not long for this world (er', this team...). He's going to be traded before spring training. For what? probably nothing significant but clearing his $48M off the books will be HUGE. Since they are suddenly in the mood for bad contracts and have a glaring need at 3B, send him to the Angels.
I like MY but if we have the chance to rid ourselves of his awful contract, I say do it...
BTW - for those of you suggesting we cut or trade Treanor just keep in mind how many times we used a 3rd or 4th or 5th catcher last year. It's not like we have Pudge behind the plate in Torreabella... he's only good for 90 games... so even if Napoli moves around from DH to 1B to C, Treanor is still a valuable asset and will catch 35 - 40 games. We NEED him.
I agree with Da Blade. I think all three catchers stick around and personally, I like Treanor. He may not hit for a high average, but he does a lot of little things to help the Rangers win games. I remember at least four games where one of Treanor's 8+ pitch at-bats led to a big inning, even if he didn't get a hit or a walk out of it.
To me this means MY won't have to learn 1st base, with Napoli backing up Moreland and MY backing up the other three IF positions while primarily DHing. Meanwhile, if Torrealba or Treanor go down with an injury, now you've got Napoli there to catch and you don't have to bring up Teagarden. Win win in my book.
I really hope they have a Napoli Bobble Head day on one of the visits by LAAoA.
Per Fangraphs (2010) giving up 1.0 WAR to add 3.4WAR.
Given that Napoli is a negative at C, but a positive at 1B the idea would be to platoon him with Moreland and retain Treanor as the primary back up at C. So much for THe face learning 1B.
This is a great move! Plus 2.4 WAR, provides backup at 1B and keeps Young away from 1B ( win - win) and adds a third C to the club house and all for chump change!