Rangers on the verge of Napoli, Francisco swap

The Rangers were unsuccessful in their quest for Jim Thome, and then when the Rays scooped up Manny Ramirez it appeared they lost out on another potential bat. But Rangers front office said they were still in pursuit of a bat to compliment the pieces they already have. Well it looks like they did just that today.

The Rangers appear to have agreed to a trade with the Blue Jays for new acquired Mike Napoli, according to Ken Rosenthal via twitter. Napoli who had a 2010 line of .238/.316/.438 with 26 homers to his name. While those numbers don’t look great, rest easy knowing his career line is a respectable .251/.346/.485. He looks to be the perfect complimentary piece to multiple positions, with the ability to catch, play first, and DH.

Napoli, 29, was acquired by the Jays just a few days ago that sent Vernon Wells to the Angels. Now from the looks of things, Napoli will be changing his address for the second time in a week. Frank Francisco is rumored to be the piece packing his bags for Toronto. Francisco has a career ERA of 3.75 in 283.1 innings in the bigs, all with Texas.

I see this as a great addition to an already great team. He should be able to give regular rest to Michael Young, Mitch Moreland, and/or Yorvit Torrealba while not compromising the lineup offensively. He has always had above average pop and if he can bring that average back up to his 2008-2009 mark of .272 he will be a great pick up.

As always, feedback is always welcome, I’d love to hear how you see Napoli fitting in. Or follow me on twitter and send me a mention @benjbowman