I just read the Tim Brown baseball blog on Yahoo! It seems Boston and Mike Napoli have yet to finalize what seemed to be a 3-year, $39 million free-agent deal. It has been 33 days. And, according to Brown, it all comes down to an MRI that makes the Red Sox uncomfortable about guaranteeing $39 million to a hip condition that Napoli himself might not have been aware of. Napoli's agent is shrugging it all off, but the fact is that there's nothing signed. It also explains why the Red Sox are weighing a deal with Adam LaRoche that could cost them a high draft pick sent to the Nationals.

The Red Sox are re-examining the questions they asked themselves about why Texas never made a realistic offer to Napoli and what the Rangers may have known or suspected.

There were no details about the hip condition itself, but one hip condition that I remember well is the one that cut short Bo Jackson's athletic career.

Just saying.

And maybe they'll all come together next week and sign the deal.

Or maybe Nap will find himself retired long before he planned on it. :(

Nope it is not cold feet; they simply are bargaining over contract language and/or fewer years, and the impatient 24/7 sports press wants something to write, so they speculate. If the Sox had a serious reason to get out of the Napoli deal, they would have done it a long time ago. Nap will be a Red Sox and will do just fine in Fenway. BTW The whole hip story is also just speculation.

Well if it is not the hip then something is really wrong. Over a month since they agreed on a contract, does it really take that long to agree on language that would protect both the player and the team? I am betting it is more about a medical report evaluation plus $ and Boston may want a one year deal with an option year instead of the 3/$39m.

No something doesn't necessarily have to be "really wrong"! There was nothing "really wrong" with Drew when he went through a simiar thing a few years ago - it took over 50 days to finalize his contract. Patience is just not a virtue of the information starved press and more than a few posters.

http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2012/12/17/jd-drew-can-feel-mike-napolis-pain

Actually the Sox still have Nap as their first priority - they want a right handed power bat and a positionally flexible player. Plus LaRoche would cost them a draft pick

Rumors are that Boston now wants to only offer a 1 year contract to Napoli, unknown on how much. Time for Napoli and his agent to shop around.

I read something about the Red Sox not wanting to take out insurance on multi-year contracts and instead putting protective clauses written into the contract. See John Lackey's contract as to how this works.

This sounds messy. I wonder if Nap has legal rights here.

There is a fine line between injury/performance/appearance clauses, and clauses that would raise the ire of the Union, but I am sure the Red Sox lawyers have all this down to a fine point after doing it so often, Lackey, Drew, etc. No doubt it is probably driving Grieper (Napoli's agent) nuts.

No doubt.

As someone already suggested it might be time for Napoli's agent to start looking for a new team. The Red Sox's don't want Nap. That's getting clearer as the days pass.

Not sure about that. They want Nap but on his their own terms which probably means a one year or two year deal with a required physical. As far as other teams are concerned there is so much negative speculative aura around Nap right now, that a one year deal is the most he could expect.

Nap has always known how to separate the business side (which he leaves up to Grieper) from the playing side. So even with all this wrangling he'll be happy to play for the Sox, and even a one year deal at 13 million sure beats sitting at home all summer.

Wells said. I hope for the best for Nap's sake.
With Spring Training only weeks away everyone should be motivated to get this done.

Peter Bourjos has hip problems too.

I know that.

And, yet, you think he's going to produce.

When did I say I think he's going to produce? That's called putting words in my mouth.

I've said that I hope, or wish, for the 2011 version of PB, and I've said he was so much fun to watch run the bases, that he really cuts the corners when he runs the bases, that I enjoyed watching him make doubles out of singles.

What I have said is that he's a great or terrific defensive player and that he has great speed,and a great arm.

THAT he was still able to do, BTW, last season, bad hip and all.