{"id":627951,"date":"2017-02-08T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=627951"},"modified":"2017-02-08T07:00:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T12:00:35","slug":"colorado-rockies-missed-a-golden-opportunity-with-mike-napoli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/colorado-rockies-missed-a-golden-opportunity-with-mike-napoli\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Rockies Missed a Golden Opportunity With Mike Napoli"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Colorado Rockies haven’t experienced a winning season since 2010 and haven’t participated in the playoffs since 2009, but that hasn’t stopped them from making some bold moves this winter.<\/p>\n
Bringing Bud Black on as manager<\/a> to replace Walt Weiss was the first domino to fall before they did some free-agent spending. Colorado then signed\u00a0Ian Desmond<\/strong><\/a> to a five-year, $70 million deal<\/a> to further bolster the\u00a0offense, along with fortifying the bullpen with\u00a0Mike Dunn<\/strong><\/a> (three years, $19 million<\/a>) and\u00a0Greg Holland<\/strong><\/a> (one year, $7 million<\/a>).<\/p>\n Combine this with a young core that includes\u00a0Jon Gray<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Nolan Arenado<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0DJ LeMahieu<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Trevor Story<\/strong><\/a> and a few others, and the Rockies are indeed set up to\u00a0attempt making a run at the postseason<\/a> in 2017. With Spring Training approaching quickly, the heavy lifting of their\u00a0offseason is done.<\/p>\n However, given the state of this winter’s free agent market, they missed out on a unique opportunity to acquire a veteran player who’d help them both on the field and in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n No, I’m not talking about catcher\u00a0Matt Wieters<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>—\u00a0they could’ve really used first baseman\u00a0Mike Napoli<\/a><\/strong>, who\u00a0finally just agreed to a one-year deal<\/a> with the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n As evidenced by their roster moves, the Rockies are convinced they’re in position to win right now, PECOTA projections<\/a> be damned. While bringing in a player like Desmond is a solid move for a reasonably young club, he doesn’t come close to matching Napoli’s\u00a0playoff experience.<\/p>\n He’s appeared in 66 total postseason games during his career, compiling 227 plate appearances. Sure, the .228\/.322\/.396 triple slash with 8 home runs and 30 RBI isn’t necessarily worth bragging about, but his teams have made the postseason in 8 of the last 10 years, including 3 trips to the World Series (winning it with the Boston Red Sox in 2013).<\/p>\n No position player on Colorado’s\u00a0projected roster (from Roster Resource<\/a>) even comes close to that kind of wisdom.<\/p>\n Plus, it wouldn’t have taken a huge commitment to snatch him up off the open market. Napoli initially was looking for a three-year deal<\/a>, but conceded to two before eventually settling for one year (with a club option<\/a>) on the eve of Spring Training. The Cleveland Indians didn’t extend him a qualifying offer<\/a>, so Colorado wouldn’t have even had to surrender another draft pick (they sacrificed their first-rounder<\/a> to sign Desmond).<\/p>\n It’s not ideal to award\u00a0a multi-year deal to a player entering their age-35 season, but if there’s ever a situation to justify such a transaction, it would’ve been this one.<\/p>\n Even after acquiring Desmond to\u00a0be their everyday first baseman despite never playing the position as a professional, the Rockies were at least somewhat interested in what was a very deep first base\/designated hitter market.<\/p>\n Rumors had them connected not only to\u00a0Edwin Encarnacion<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mark Trumbo<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>via free agency<\/a>,\u00a0but they also explored\u00a0Jose Abreu<\/strong><\/a> as a potential trade option<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those all appeared to be long shots, but with a willingness to spend<\/a>, it wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility. Are those three perceived as better options than Napoli on paper? Well, yea, but they would’ve cost much more to acquire — whether you’re talking about money, prospects\/draft picks or both.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Obviously, Napoli hung out on the free agent market this long for a reason. There are potential risks in signing him<\/a>, especially if a team seriously considered keeping him\u00a0beyond 2017. His offense could decline from his career highs in homers (34) and RBI (101) from last season, but playing home games at Coors Field would’ve likely helped\u00a0soften that blow.<\/p>\n The other risk\u00a0for a National League team like the Rockies to consider would be his declining defensive numbers from 2016. After being an asset with the glove since becoming a full-time first baseman in 2013, Napoli posted a negative DRS (-4) and UZR (-4.4) for the first time.<\/p>\n He could bounce back from those numbers, but even if he only maintains them, they’d still be better than the production Colorado received from the position last year.<\/p>\n Rockies first baseman posted a -5 DRS and -5.4 UZR in 2016, both of which were among the worst in baseball<\/a>. So, the defense would basically be a push, while Napoli could’ve provided a substantial offensive boost.<\/p>\nThe Type of Experience They Needed<\/h2>\n
They Were Already Thinking About it<\/h2>\n
Declining Defense, But So What?<\/h2>\n