Last offseason, the Twin City River Monsters signed left-handed hitting infielder Greg Nixon to a minor league contract with a $210,000 signing bonus. While Nixon is in no way a blue-chip prospect, he does have a lot of skills that might make him a BBA player. Of course, he has some other skills that might make him not a BBA player. So that's where the debate stands.
First, let's get to the good parts. As a left-handed hitter, his batting stats are 5, 6, 8, 6, 4 versus right-handed pitching. On the surface, you'll say, meh, that's not that good. Five contact is always a little suspect, in my opinion. But since he plays a premium position like second base and even a little shortstop, that can work. What makes it even better, though, is that he has eight power. So basically, you're looking at a guy who might only hit .220/.230, .250 in a good year, but he can give you a good 20 home runs, 25 home runs. And from a middle infielder, that's pretty phenomenal.
Okay, now let's get to the bad part. He strikes out a lot. While over in the GBC, he led the league in strikeouts. His other down point is that he makes a ton of errors. His infield ratings are 8, 4, 7, 10. So he's got enough range definitely to play second base, shortstop in a pinch. So he can play second base, third base, first base. But that four error is really going to hinder him a lot. What good is range and arm if you're going to let the ball roll right under your glove? He's made as many as 40 errors in a minor league season. Not very good at all.
Can you trust this guy in the BBA? I, for one, like warty players, if you can put them in the right position. But Nixon isn't a good enough hitter that his bat is going to stand out alone. He needs to play defense. He needs to be that versatile guy that can move around and you can put in any spot on the field to get full value out of that eight power as a middle infielder. So the question is, would you like Greg Nixon play for your team? Obviously he's not going to be a starter, but he'd be a great Swiss Army knife, super sub, whatever you want to call it. So in the comments below, tell me, would you like Greg Nixon play for your team?
