Nixon Works Out

Trot Nixon worked out for the Diamondbacks in Tucson yesterday. The contact with the club was initiated by Nixon, and scouts from Toronto, Seattle and the LA Dodgers also observed.

"He looked good," D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes said of Nixon.

"We're going to talk about it. Probably the big issue is 'Trace.' If our health returns, we are fine. But if we get more injuries, that would make you a little worried."

Arizona said it was unlikely to sign a veteran free agent as a short-term fill-in, and would have to run through that scenario with Nixon before talks got serious.

This brings me to the one issue that has been bothering me all winter which is the club's (at least public) lack of concern over the loss of Tony Clark. I half expected  them to re-open talks with Clark after Chad Tracy's injury proved more serious than first thought. When that didn't happen the other half or me expected them to maybe go after Mark Sweeney.

In losing Clark they lost a powerful left handed hitter off the bench, a reliable above average back-up at first base as well as a team leader and veteran (you can never have too many of them). Clark ended up signing a smaller deal with division rival San Diego (another DOH!) than the one that was initially offered to him by the Diamondbacks.

I know that Robby Hammock has played everything except third line trombone, but he has exactly TWO games at first base as a major leaguer under his belt, and he doesn't come close to being the long ball threat that Clark had been.

Is Nixon the answer? I don't know. Certainly he isn't a first baseman, but for a team that many feel is going to have to bump up their run production in order to keep pace this year, he could bring some of the intangibles back that they lost with Clark. Failing to address this issue is one  off-season move I hope the D-Backs don't end up wishing they hadn't made.

I'm just sayin', you know?