The Sox are looking for a new first baseman. There are a lot of options, but Mike Napoli is the guy the Red Sox should be going after.

Sox fans most likely know Napoli as the guy who absolutely demolishes the Red Sox every single time he plays them. I will be honest, this year, I almost expected Napoli to hit a home run every single time he stepped up to the plate. This fear was backed up by the insane numbers put up by Napoli at Fenway Park, where he has hit .306 throughout his career with 7 home runs, 17 RBI, .397 OBP and an absolutely ludicrous 1.107 OPS.

If you translate that to the number of games Napoli would play at Fenway, in an ideal world of 81 games, that is 29 home runs and 72 RBI. You can’t deny the fact that Napoli loves playing at Fenway.

Napoli not only loves playing at Fenway but also loves the city of Boston. Examine the Twitter feed of reporter Jen Royle (@Jen_Royle), who happens to be a good friend of Napoli. Royle mentions that Napoli “loves” Boston. It’s a match made in heaven.

So when I mentioned on my Twitter feed that I felt that Napoli was the perfect fit for Boston, a couple of my followers explained some downsides of bringing him on board. Napoli is a below-average defender, has had injury issues in the past and is asking for a four-year deal, something the Red Sox have reportedly been resistant to so far this year.

Napoli is definitely a below-average defender, but has that stopped the Red Sox from signing good offensive players in the past? Manny Ramirez was one of the comically bad left-fielders during his time playing baseball in the majors. He got a 10-year, $200 million contract from the Red Sox. One of the worst defenders in baseball, Miguel Cabrera, won the Most Valuable Player award after hitting the Triple Crown.

Napoli isn’t the hitter Cabrera or Ramirez is, but he is a very strong bat who will thrive in a lineup that has young slugger Will Middlebrooks, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

So how about the injury concerns with Napoli? Napoli has played catcher for the majority of his time in the majors and a lot of his injuries have resulted from that position. Napoli has had knee, ankle and shoulder issues that can all be traced back to his time playing catcher. As a member of the Red Sox, Napoli would be playing first base primarily and be the third catcher behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Ryan Lavarnway (expect one of those two to be traded) and David Ross.

Napoli would be playing a position that does not share the physical demands of being a catcher, demands which have prevented him from playing more than 140 games in all but one season in his career.

So what about the fourth year that Napoli wants? The Red Sox have reportedly wanted to offer Napoli a three-year deal while Napoli insists on a four-year deal.

By year three of this hypothetical four year deal with the Red Sox, expect David Ortiz to retire. The Red Sox legend will be 39 years old and has been more injury-prone in the last couple of years due to his age. With Ortiz gone by year three, Napoli will be able to become the DH and the defensive liability issues that people are complaining about will no longer apply.

Mike Napoli is the perfect fit for this Red Sox at this moment, and the front office needs to suck it up and go sign him to the four-year deal that he wants.

Joon can be contacted at [email protected]

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