It’s been a good couple of weeks for Mike Napoli.
Napoli, who earned AL Co-Player of the Week honors alongside teammate Will Middlebrooks on Monday, has come on strong following a rough patch. Now, Napoli is getting paid.
Thursday marks Napoli’s 165th day on the Red Sox’ active roster. As a result, Napoli will earn the full $8 million in incentives for the one-year deal he signed with Boston during the offseason. Napoli, whose base salary is $5 million, will earn a total of $13 million for 2013.
Napoli was eligible for performance-based incentives. He was set to earn $0.5 million each for 30, 60, 90, 120 days on the active roster and 300, 325, 350, 375 plate appearances, and was slated to earn $1 million each for 400, 475, 550, 625 plate appearances. But since Napoli has racked up 165 days on Boston’s active roster, the first baseman will be given the whole enchilada.
There were reports during the offseason that Napoli had agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with the Red Sox — in other words, $13 million annually. It was discovered that Napoli had a hip condition, though, and the deal was subsequently restructured.
Napoli’s hip condition — know as avascular necrosis — has shown no signs of worsening, and the slugger has certainly produced for the Red Sox. He is hitting .260 with 21 home runs and 87 RBIs in 534 plate appearances over 128 games.
Napoli will be a free agent after the season, but the 31-year-old told The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham that he hopes to return to the Red Sox.
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