5 year at 17 for Napoli? Even supposing a good year last year that seems nuts.
Baseball contracts have gotten crazy since I started following the sport as an adult.
Well, in the previous season, in just 113 games, Napoli hit .320, with 30 home runs and a 1.046 OPS. Those are MVP type numbers, and for a guy who could play catcher, that is pretty impressive.
Of course, it looks like that season was an aberation, and he looks like he is closer to a .260, 25 HR, .850 OPS guy. But, Mazz is right. Had he come closer to his 2011 season last year, he would have actually been closer to 20 million per year.