While there have been plenty of other teams interested in Mike Napoli, the Texas Rangers have not given up on him.  They are still talking with Napoli despite the rumored teams interested in the All-Star catcher says Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News.

Napoli, who is coming off a quad injury, struggled in 2012.  However, he had a phenomenal year in 2011, and teams are hoping he can get back to a production level somewhere in line with that season.  In 2011, Napoli hit .320/.414/.631.  He came crashing back to a .227 batting average this past season.  Much of that could have been related to his injury, but a good portion is also due him slumping from the start of the season on.


On Friday, the Rangers' GM Jon Daniels said the team is keeping an open line of communication with Napoli.  However, it still seems as if the 31-year old veteran is all but gone.  The Rangers did not make the $13.3 million qualifying offer they would have needed to in order to get draft pick compensation if he were to sign elsewhere.  This means two things, the Rangers do not think he is worth that much, and they do not think another team will spend that much on him.

Should the Rangers get Napoli back, they would likely want to bring him back on a short-term deal for somewhere near what he made in 2012 - $9.4 million.  It would not be surprising to see them go for a two-year, $20 million deal, but again, it seems as if they have essentially moved on despite Daniels' comments.  But Napoli will land somewhere and will be given a chance to help another team much like he did with the Rangers in 2011 and to a lesser extent this past season.
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