Francona: Indians added Napoli to help him audition for other teams

Mike Napoli is on the verge of returning to the Cleveland Indians, but he probably won't play an inning with the major-league club. Once he passes a physical, the two sides will agree to a minor-league deal.

With Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso entrenched at DH and first base, respectively, the team brought Napoli back due to their mutual respect stemming from his time with the club during its 2016 World Series pursuit. The signing is designed to give Napoli a chance to audition for other teams, according to manager Terry Francona.

"It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, and, in our opinion, shouldn't be in that camp in Bradenton, Fla.," Francona told Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. "He wanted a chance to be in a major-league camp. There's a decent chance that we're going to get him ready to go to another team and help beat us.

"Saying that, we all felt he deserved it. He's such a pro, so special to us. Certainly, if there's an injury (he could help us). I'm just laying it out as honest as I can. It's a very unique situation, but he's a very unique person."

Francona and the Indians made sure to let Napoli know what the team's intentions were so there were no hard feelings when it didn't make room for him at the major-league level.

"My biggest concern was, and I told him this, is that he comes in here and hits .500 and we don't have a spot for a kid we're crazy about and we have to tell him that," Francona said. "So we told him up front because I didn't want to damage a relationship that's important."

Napoli was initially slated to attend the all-free agent training camp after failing to land a contract throughout the offseason. He struggled at the plate in 2017, batting only .193 with 29 home runs in 124 games with the Texas Rangers.