Why the Red Sox restructured Mike Napoli's contract

Lately we've joked (I say “we” but what I mean is “I”) about Mike Napoli’s health issues. If you found it in poor taste or perhaps lacking the proper amount of humor then you probably have the personality of a whiffle-ball bat. Nonetheless today we found out exactly why Napoli failed his physical which led the Red Sox to restructure his 3-year deal. The reason is - are you ready for this?

Napoli suffers from avascular necrosis. 

If you're like me you asked this question: What in the hell is avascular necrosis? So I did what any good Millennial would I looked it up on Wikipedia and here’s what the digital encyclopedia said:

A disease where there is cellar death (necrosis) of bone components due to interruption of the blood supply. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and the bone collapses. If avascular necrosis involves the bones of a joint, it often leads to destruction of the joint articular surfaces.

First, that description just sounds painful. Second, it’s fairly obvious why the Red Sox hit the brakes on the Napoli train early on. After reading more about avascular necrosis it became apparent that the long term affects of this disease could keep Napoli on the sidelines for a while.

In light of his disease and the contractual restructuring that followed Napoli signed a 1-year deal worth 5 million dollars with incentives that could bring that number up to 13 million. A drastic change from the initial 3-year 39 million dollar contract offered early this off-season.

    

It’s safe to say the Red Sox are going with the “wait and see” approach. As a life-long and recently disgruntled Sox fan (to be honest Red Sox fans are always disgruntled) I’m glad they’re taking this approach. It's about time. 

Follow Scott Levesque on Twitter at @scottlevesque.