Josh Hamilton hit a career-high 43 home runs in 2012. Mike Napoli, despite a DL stint and an off-year, hit 24 homers. For you folks who are math-challenged, that's 67 home runs from two people.
One of those, Hamilton, is pretty much a guarantee to be in another team's uniform next season. Napoli is a toss-up as to whether he'll return, as the Rangers must make a decision on whether to offer him a one-year qualifying offer, let him go elsewhere or possibly even offer a multi-year deal in the club's exclusive negotiation period with their own free agents.
If both are gone, that's approximately 35 percent of the team's home runs in 2012 that will not be on the roster in 2013.
There are options out there, via trade or on the free agent market, to replace some power but it's going to be hard to replace it all, especially at catcher if Napoli walks.
Of course, this all might not matter too much with the new park renovations, which will include opening up the club level behind home plate and doing away with the overrated Cuervo Club, which could kill the legendary jet stream that has aided Rangers hitters for years.
We've been going back and forth on what the Rangers should/will do with Napoli, but as of today, expect the Rangers to bring Napoli back in some form or fashion, whether it's for one year or multiple years. So, how we replace that 43 bombs? Time to start brainstorming.
