Napoli Returns To Sox For Two Years

Rob Bradford and Alex Speier, WEEI:

According to multiple industry sources, the Red Sox have agreed to re-sign first baseman Mike Napoli, bringing the 32-year-old back on a two-year, $32 million deal. It is believed that the Red Sox did not have the best offer to the free agent — the Rangers were thought to have a larger contract on the table — but that the first baseman decided that he wanted wanted to return to the team and city where he thrived in 2013.

In other news, Napoli still has his beard.

Tabloid Reaction To Ellsbury's Decision

Mike Lupica, Daily News:

This is what happens when the Red Sox win their third World Series in a decade, against one for the Yankees in that time ... So now the Yankees go out and agree to a deal with Jacoby Ellsbury for the kind of insane longterm contract that got them into the kind of fix they are in in the first place.

They do the only thing they can do: Try to buy their way out of this. If you were running the team, you would do it exactly that way. You have no real assets in the farm system. You have money. So you spend it. ...

No farm system, no choice. You spend money. Maybe they will get around to spending it on pitching eventually.

Bill Madden, Daily News:

How long until the Yankees are regretting giving Jacoby Ellsbury a 7-year contract? ...

[A]s history has proven, contracts of more than six years for players 30 or older have proven time and again to be disasters ...

I'm just not sure what the Yankees are trying to prove here. Now they've agreed with Ellsbury on a $21.8 million per year deal that will almost certainly be another financial disaster three or four years down the road, while giving them another "legs" player in the outfield when what they really needed there was a power bat. ...

Whatever, this reckless, show-their-financial-might signing by the Yankees makes no sense, other than being another example of the Yankees' intention of buying their way out of a situation in which their player development department has been bankrupt for years.

Jacoby Ellsbury Joins The Yankees, With 7/153 Deal

According to sources, free agent Jacoby Ellsbury has agreed to a 7/153 contract with the New York Yankees. There is an option for an eighth year (2021) that could bring the total value to $169 million.

I knew 2013 would be Ellsbury's last season in Boston, so his leaving doesn't come as a surprise, but I do wish he'd signed with one of the other 28 teams out there that aren't the Yankees. ... Still, enjoy fourth or fifth place, Jacoby.

Ellsbury was a key member of two World Series champions in Boston, so there won't be any boos from this corner. The contract is a colossal overpay - both in years and dollars - but good for Ellsbury for finding idiots willing to give him everything he wanted. In 2014, the Yankees will pay Ellsbury more than the Red Sox will pay David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia combined. [Not true; see comments]

In fact, this deal is for more money than the much-maligned 7/142 contract the Red Sox gave to Carl Crawford, then 29, three Decembers ago. While Ellsbury will likely give the Yankees some quality seasons during the length of the contract, he is also a guy with a career 108 OPS+.

Also: There are reports that Jarrod Saltalamacchia has signed a 3/21 contract with the Marlins.

Now Catching For Boston, A.J. Pierzynski

The Red Sox have agreed on a one-year deal with free agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who turns 37 at the end of this month. ESPN's Buster Olney reports the deal is for $8.25 million.

Pierzynski caught 111 games with the Rangers last year, hitting .272. His OBP was only .297 and Peter Abraham of the Globe notes that he saw only 3.27 pitches per plate appearance, the lowest in the majors.

The signing is seen as a bridge to catching prospect Christian Vazquez, who hit .289/.376/.395 for Portland and is expected to start 2014 in Pawtucket. Ryan Lavarnway is also in the mix.

Michael Silverman, Herald:

Interestingly, considering the Red Sox' good-guy approach last year, Pierzynski has a reputation for not being well-liked throughout the majors. In a USA Today player poll conducted last year, Pierzynski was overwhelmingly voted the most hated player in the game. He earned 34 percent of the vote, compared to the second-place recipient, Alex Rodriguez, who garnered nine percent.

The Providence Journal quotes Pierzynski's former manager in Chicago, Ozzie Guillen: "If you play against him, you hate him. If you play with him, you hate him a little less."

Only 77 Days To "Truck Day"

Some dates in early 2014:

Saturday, February 8 - Truck Day
Saturday, February 15 - Pitchers and Catchers
Thursday, February 27 - Annual doubleheader against Northeastern and Boston College
Monday, March 31 - Opening Day: Red Sox at Orioles
Friday, April 4 - Home Opener: Brewers at Red Sox

The Red Sox traded with Milwaukee for right-handed reliever Burke Badenhop. ... Prospects Garin Cecchini (3B), Bryce Brentz (OF), and Anthony Ranaudo (RHP) were added to the team's 40-man roster.

What was the Most Watchable Game of 2013? Dave Studeman at The Hardball Times says it was the July 30 game between the Rangers and Angels. Studeman ranked every 2013 game "by the total number of swings in Win Probability as well as the average Leverage Index of each play. In non-geek speak, these games featured the biggest swings in leads along with the most intense, close plays." ... Top Red Sox game? June 10 at Tampa Bay.