Rangers acquire Mike Napoli

The Texas Rangers acquired first baseman Mike Napoli and cash from the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations, the teams announced. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com first reported Texas' acquisition of Napoli. 

The 33-year-old Napoli did not garner much interest at the non-waiver trade deadline due to poor play. However, as he has played better in the past few weeks, it sparked a trade. 

Napoli heads back to Texas, where he spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons, to be a right-handed hitter off their bench and platoon at first base. Against left-handed pitching, the Rangers are have a dismal 84 wRC+, 24th in the big leagues.

Mitch Moreland, the Rangers' left-handed starting first baseman, has been especially bad against southpaws, with a .672 OPS in 103 plate appearances against them. Napoli, on the other hand, has a .845 OPS against them, making him a perfect platoon partner. 

A free agent at the end of the season, Napoli made $16 million in 2014. Most, if not all of his remaining salary, will likely be picked up by the Red Sox in the trade. 

Overall, this season, Napoli is hitting a .207/.307/.386/.693 clip in 378 plate appearances with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs. Over the past 28 days, Napoli is hitting .258/.347/.500/.847 with three bombs and 10 runs driven in. 

--Devan Fink

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