Red Sox Sign Mike Napoli

Scratch another catcher off the list – Mike Napoli has signed a 3-year, $39M deal with the Boston Red Sox. What might this mean for the Mets?

Certainly, that deal is too rich for the Mets’ budget. But if they had expanded purse strings, do you think he is worth that much? For a team in the Adulterated League, using the Designated Pinch Hitter, maybe. For a team playing real baseball, I’m not so sure. He’s a little better than Mike Piazza behind the plate but not nearly as good offensively, so he needs a competent backup with whom to split time. He has that guy in Boston in David Ross. Ah, but wait, there is also Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway. There appears to be a logjam behind the dish — might one or two be heading out of Boston, now that Ross and Napoli are in place?

It would seem at least one of those catchers is on the way out — and the Mets can use either of them. The Red Sox are definitely in a win-now / reload mode, and can use a Cy Young winner such as R.A. Dickey. Maybe the Napoli signing leads to a trade between the Mets and Bosox, in which R.A. goes to Boston, and the Mets get a backstop as well as a prospect or two.

Who would you insist on receiving in return from the Red Sox? I know, I know, we’ve gone through this before, but it seems more real now.

Answer in the comments.