Cleveland Indians show organizational goodwill by signing Mike Napoli

The Cleveland Indians don’t currently have a spot on the roster for Mike Napoli, but signed him anyway to allow him to get work in this spring.

The hype surrounding the Cleveland Indians signing Mike Napoli is a bit different in 2018 compared to the first time around.

The news became official today after being announced on Tuesday, and some fans may have reacted with confusion to the news.

Why bring back a player when there is no spot for him on the team? That is where the goodwill of the Indians comes into play.

This signing was not made to create controversy in Goodyear. Instead, it was to help Napoli get into a big league camp and get some work in this spring. Quite the nice gesture from the Indians.

This being a minor league deal does leave open the possibility of Napoli being retained in the name of depth, but I don’t see it happening. The Indians would be better suited to give that spot to a younger player if there is no intention of calling Napoli up to Cleveland. He may also rather test his chances on the open market throughout the year rather than play in the minors.

This move also shows how the Indians are realistic in their hopes of contention. Napoli wasn’t brought in with the hope that he would repeat the success he saw for most of the 2016 season. That would be foolish, but nostalgia has led to some crazy things. Luckily, that is not the case here.

Yonder Alonso and Edwin Encarnacion were brought in as improvements over Napoli, and they are set to be the big bats in the lineup this season.

But this doesn’t mean fans can’t enjoy seeing Napoli back in an Indians uniform this spring. He may provide some highlight home runs, setting himself up to be signed by another team after having no luck during this slow offseason.

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The party isn’t exactly back, but having Napoli back is a nice treat before the season and an amazing gesture by the Indians.