Jayson Nix, a Love story

I love Jayson Nix. I have an unexplainable man-crush on him. A bromance, should you be so inclined. I loved him even when he looked like a bust with the Rockies. I was ecstatic when we signed him so promptly last offseason. That's right...ecstatic...for Jayson Nix. In my mind, he's got the tools necessary to be an above average 2B. He's got his problems, to be sure. His lefty/righty splits suggest platoon. He gets too anxious on fastballs and pulls very hittable pitches foul far too often. He swings and misses at too many sliders.

BUT, he also has a bunch of bright spots that I feel are unfairly ignored, whereas the aforementioned weaknesses are discussed far too often. He's got power. Big time. He has excellent instincts on the basepaths to go with above average speed. He plays, in my mind, outstanding defense at 2B. Basically, I see him - over 550 AB's - putting up a line somewhere along the lines of .255/.340/.460. That's pretty damn solid, given the defense and speed he offers, for a second baseman. He's a 20-20 guy EASY with regular playing time.

You may question the batting average, and that's fair. He had a very low line-drive rate last year at 13.0%, which undoubtedly didn't help. However, I believe that to be an aberration. The same goes for his related - and grossly low - .249 BABIP. His line drive rate the year before with Colorado was a much more normal 17.9%. However, that year he also posted a .179 BABIP.... strange. I'm not a statistician, as you may be able to tell (especially if you're a statistician). I fancy myself more of a scouting type. However, to me...this looks like a guy that may have suffered from some bad luck 2 years running.

Now, the Sox expect to contend. I hope so at least. For a contending team, it's hard to stomach the risk involved with having an unknown commodity as your starting 2B. There's also some guy named Beckham that's apparently some sort of roadblock (Jerk!). However, if I were a non-contender, he would strike me as a definite target. The Sox really don't have a ton of need for him, and he'd be an excellent "buy-low" candidate. As much as I think he can help the Sox, I'd almost rather see him get a shot at starting with another club. I hate seeing guys with starter potential get the utility label, which is painfully tough to overcome. Here's hoping some contender sees him the same way I do...and gives the Sox something nice in return.