[Elite_video_player id=”9″]
The Colorado Rockies have holes to address this offseason, whether it’s retooling the league’s worst bullpen, adding depth, and filling the void at first base. The free agent market is limited at first base, especially those with a right-handed bat. As you know, Colorado’s lineup is left-handed heavy, which makes Mike Napoli a perfect fit with the club.
Napoli, 34, is currently playing in the World Series with the Cleveland Indians. The first baseman is set to become a free agent after the season after signing a one-year, $7 million deal last offseason.
Napoli posted a career-high in both home runs and RBI this season, hitting 34 and 101 respectively. Not to mention, at the age of 34, Napoli played in a career high 150 games this season, while 2011 was his closest with 140.
A right-handed first baseman, such as Napoli, with pop, will bode well at Coors Field, especially with the lineup potentially ahead of him. Napoli slashed at a line of .247/.351./.443, collecting a career-high 259 total bases, though just posting a 1.0 WAR.
His splits, on the other hand, are a bit concerning, considering Progressive Field like Coors, has been a hitter’s park this season. At home, Napoli hit .281/.392/.566 with 12 doubles, 22 home runs, and 71 RBI. As far as the road goes, Napoli hit just .198/.275/.367 with 10 doubles, 12 home runs, and 30 RBI.
Assuming if that’s what you’re going to get out of Napoli, you can probably expect his home numbers at Coors to be a little higher.
The Rockies have quite the decision on their hands, whether they go out on the free agent market or via trade looking for a first baseman, or simply re-signing 33-year-old Mark Reynolds who proved his worth this past year. Though there have been some rumblings about potentially moving All-Star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to first base, which seems a bit odd but it could open up an outfield spot for either Gerardo Parra or Raimel Tapia.
Considering the Rockies gave Parra a three-year, $27.5 million deal last offseason, it’s not in their best interest to have him coming off the bench, especially with that kind of contract. However, that proves to be the case with an outfield loaded with talent regarding Charlie Blackmon, David Dahl, and CarGo. So in theory, I dabbled with the idea of having Tapia start the season in Triple-A Albuquerque, giving him a little more seasoning while providing the Rockies with flexibility, given an injury, to promote Tapia back to the club when they feel is convenient.
Reynolds, on the other hand, hit a career-high .282 this past season, tallying 24 doubles, 14 home runs, and 53 RBI. Reynolds also posted a 1.5 WAR — the second highest mark in his career. Reynolds played in just 118 games this past season, going down late in the year with a broken hamate bone in his left hand.
With the injury to Reynolds, the Rockies featured several players such as Ben Paulsen, Stephen Cardullo, Jordan Patterson, and even Gerardo Parra at first base.
The question the Rockies will ask themselves, pending a CarGo move to first base, will be; do they go with the cheaper option in Reynolds, who made $2.6 million this past season, or are they going to up the ante on a player like Napoli who made $7 million with more power.
0 Comments (1 conversation)
Mike Napoli is completely unnecessary for the Rockies. For that matter, any hitter is unnecessary. Hitters will hit in Colorado and for that matter Reynolds was just fine last year. Napoli would provide little on top of that and there’s a good chance he will fall back next season as he had been trending down for some time prior to this year. Rocky money should always be skewed toward the pitching staff as that is, what will always be, what holds the team back. Finding a way to hold a lead once they get one is what will turn this team into a contender, not acquiring a 34 year old first baseman who is a former catcher and as such could be much “older” in playing terms. Mark Reynolds also is likely to maintain the inflated numbers he showed this year because his deeper batted ball stats show a dramatic change in hitting style and not simply a luck-based mirage. Hop on over to fangraphs for some of that evidence but long story short, the numbers indicate an altered approach to hitting and .282/.356/.450 is enough to win with. Overpay for a reliever or maybe even 2 and this team becomes a contender in a year or 2. Say they throw every penny they have available at both Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and somehow manage to ink both guys? The team immediately becomes a major contender and moving CarGo to free up some salary room could make this move possible. The Rockies would have to throw millions upon millions at these 2 and an extra year at least to have any chance at either one but the fact is their stuff would play at Coors same as any ball park and they would remain just as unhittable as they are elsewhere. Losing CarGo might hurt for a bit but as I said earlier, the Rockies need not want long for a hitter (perhaps free agent Sean Rodriguez fits in here).