Report: Indians to sign Napoli to minor-league deal

The Cleveland Indians are planning a reunion party with first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli.

Once Napoli passes a physical, he's set to sign a minor-league deal with the club that includes an invitation to spring training, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

He'll earn a base salary of $1.75 million if he cracks Cleveland's major-league roster, and can also earn up to $3.25 million in incentives, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

Napoli played 150 games with the Indians in 2016, hitting a career-high 34 home runs with 101 RBIs with an .800 OPS.

While the Indians came within a win of taking home a World Series championship, Napoli wasn't a steady contributor. In the seven-game series against the Chicago Cubs, he hit .167/.231/.167 with 11 strikeouts.

The 35-year-old continued to struggle at the dish in 2017, batting .193/.285/.428 with the Texas Rangers, though he still showcased the power stroke with 29 home runs in 124 games.

Entering 2018, there doesn't appear to be room on the major-league roster for Napoli with Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso slated to be the Indians' designated hitter and first baseman, respectively.

Indians manager Terry Francona met with Encarnacion and Alonso to assure them Napoli isn't in camp to "take your job," according to Bastian. Francona said he felt Napoli deserved to be in a major-league training camp, and that it could be used to draw interest elsewhere.