Thursday, March 23, 2006

Trot Nixon next Sox casualty?

With the recent push of outfielder acquisitions, we'd have to assume that the Sox are making moves to rid themselves of the oft-injured Trot Nixon?

4 comments:

lavinius said...

Trot's a FA at the end of the season, so here's what I think will happen...

I think they go into the season with a Nixon/Wily Mo platoon. Trot walks next offseason, paving the way for Wily Mo to be the fulltime RF'er.

JOMO (Just One Man's Opinion)

Anonymous said...

i'm guessing that nixon won't spend the entire season with the sox - he's an expendable platoon guy and i think he'll be traded as soon as the sox can get something of value in return. i'll be surprised if nixon is still with the team in august...

lavinius said...

I think a lot depends on WMP cleaning up his suspect defense in right field and cutting down on his K rate.

It's widely known that WMP isn't exactly a gold glover out there-- and now we're talking about a guy who's going to man one of the trickiest RFs around in Fenway. When he came to Boston as the Cincy RFer last year, to say he looked lost would be an understatement.

Also...if he starts K'ing at a Mark Bellhorn rate, how long before fans turn on him?

Trot, although declining somewhat and unable to hit lefties, plays solid D out there, can still produce vs. RHP, and is a fan favorite and respected in the clubhouse. It's gonna take a lot for WMP to supplant him.

Don't get me wrong, I think WMP has enormous upside...certainly more than Arroyo (who he was traded for) and Nixon to be sure. But to hand the RF reigns over to WMP after August? Hardly a sure bet.

In the short term, he provides quality depth to all three OF positions. In the long term, hopefully our everyday starting RFer.

Anonymous said...

i'm not saying wmp will be the everyday RFer in nixon's absence - i just think the sox will make more moves to pick up outfielders in preparation for trot's departure. kapler, juan gonzalez, and adam stern are all options now (again, i'm not saying that's the answer, but i believe the sox will make some moves to get something for nixon before year's end).