And so ends Chapter Three of the Mike Napoli story.
General manager Jon Daniels confirmed Tuesday what had been assumed since the end of the season: The Rangers will not exercise the option in Napoli's contract for 2018. Instead, the team will pay him a $2.5 million buyout.
The move was expected. Napoli struggled all year hitting just .193 with a .713 OPS. Napoli fell 17 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the batting title due to a stress reaction in his ankle, but the batting average would have ranked as the lowest in the AL. No qualifying AL hitter has batted less than .