Red Sox trying to reduce Mike Napoli's deal to one year

The Boston Red Sox are in a retooling mode right now. They're trying to make more budget conscious decisions, which is an oxymoron since any signing in baseball is hardly budget conscious. But nonetheless they're not going hog wild like in years past trying keep up with the New York Yankees.

One of the signings the Red Sox made was a three year, $39 million contract to former Texas Rangers catcher/first baseman, Mike Napoli. Napoli was one of the best sluggers out there on the free agent market, so why not. The signing was Boston's biggest splash in free agency.

Fast forward to today and the Red Sox are trying to reduce that contract to a one year deal since there are concerns about a hip condition that was revealed during Napoli's physical after signing the contract. This has led to a stalemate between Napoli and the Red Sox. The Red Sox have a hole at first base and are now looking at Washington's Michael Morse as an option if Napoli and the team can't resolve it's issues.

I can see why the Red Sox are doing this. They're covered in case Napoli misses a significant amount of playing time and they won't have that contract as an albatross. However, look for the union to get involved and get some kind of resolution hammered out. The big loser in this is Napoli since his market undoubtedly will drop if he and the Red Sox can't agree to terms.