According to Peter Gammons of ESPN, Trot Nixon will sign a one-year contract with Cleveland. The Red Sox had not offered Nixon, a type B free agent, arbitration.
A Nixon-Jason Michaels Platoon makes a good bit of sense. The only problem is they already have two lefty platoon OFs in David Dellucci and Shin-Soo Choo, if one of those two or Nixon was a righty they'd be set with platoons in the corners. As it is I suppose they can platoon one of them with Casey Blake, but yes, they now officially have one to many lefty platoon outfielders.
Prior to the Nixon signing, Blake was thought to be part of the solution at 1B ...
http://tinyurl.com/3b6fhs
"Balancing the lineup against the handedness of the opposing pitcher will be manager Eric Wedge's job. He's likely to give the initial starts at first base against right-handers to the versatile Casey Blake, who just added first to his repertoire last year.
No, Blake, who made just seven starts at first last year, won't have numbers that reach the standard of the prototypical, power-hitting first baseman. But in Shapiro's mind, it's equally doubtful he'll boot many balls.
He's just an athletic guy that has the ability to be above-average defensively at most corner spots," Shapiro said. "I think he's clearly the kind of guy that, if he plays over there a lot, could be very good over there."
In addition to the $3 million, there are incentives, "Nixon can earn $2 million in performance bonuses: $250,000 each for 200 plate appearances and every additional 50 plate appearances through 550." He last had 550+ PAs in 2003.
Would you rather have 1) Ethier in LF and Nixon in RF or 2) LuGo II in LF and Ethier in RF? I pick #2, the ~$3 million savings and the improved defense. At 33, Trot seems more likely to have a "recovery" year than LuGo II.
If he's healthy and still got something in the tank, he's a nice addition. But that makes for a crowded outfield, doesn't it?
Second thought: Richard?
I am not sufficiently Trot-centric.
to paraphrase Bowie:
"do you remember ... your Red Sock named Nixon"
Prior to the Nixon signing, Blake was thought to be part of the solution at 1B ...
http://tinyurl.com/3b6fhs
"Balancing the lineup against the handedness of the opposing pitcher will be manager Eric Wedge's job. He's likely to give the initial starts at first base against right-handers to the versatile Casey Blake, who just added first to his repertoire last year.
No, Blake, who made just seven starts at first last year, won't have numbers that reach the standard of the prototypical, power-hitting first baseman. But in Shapiro's mind, it's equally doubtful he'll boot many balls.
He's just an athletic guy that has the ability to be above-average defensively at most corner spots," Shapiro said. "I think he's clearly the kind of guy that, if he plays over there a lot, could be very good over there."
Would you rather have 1) Ethier in LF and Nixon in RF or 2) LuGo II in LF and Ethier in RF? I pick #2, the ~$3 million savings and the improved defense. At 33, Trot seems more likely to have a "recovery" year than LuGo II.
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