Nixon Back in Right Field (for Cleveland)

It almost seems unfair.

The Red Sox management decided this off-season that J.D. Drew at $14 million a year was a better option in right field than Trot Nixon at a fraction of the cost. So the Sox didn't offer Trot a contract. Rumor has it the only interest Theo Epstein had in the streaky, injury-prone Nixon was as a fourth outfielder.

Instead, they handed the streaky, injury-prone Drew a boatload of cash, and to add insult to injury, Drew took Trot's position and uniform number (Trot wears #33 for the Indians), leaving loyal Red Sox fans wondering how this injustice can be served upon one of the few homegrown products of the fallow pre-Epstein Red Sox farm system.

After nearly two months of the season, here's how the two right-fielders stack up:

Trot Nixon, 2007 salary: $3 million    AVG .281 | HR 2 | RBI 20 | OBP .361 | SLG .393 
J.D. Drew,  2007 salary: $14 million    AVG .234 | HR 2 | RBI 15 | OBP .353 | SLG .324 

Based on these numbers, this is about what I'd expect from Trot. It's clear that Drew has underperformed, but my guess, again based on their histories, is that Drew will have a far better season than Nixon. He has shown some signs of coming out of this prolonged offensive funk, and if he plans to justify his lofty salary, he'd better turn it on soon.

Do I miss Trot Nixon? Not exactly. I was getting a little tired of the "blue collar" and "dirt dog" labels attributed to the son of a physician. Christopher Trotman Nixon doesn't exactly sound like a janitor's kid. The injuries were getting to be too much for me as well. I realize that Drew is equally as bad, if not worse, when it comes to time spent on the DL, but Drew never cultivated this caricature of a hard-nosed, all-out, balls-to-the-wall baseball everyman that Trot Nixon aspired to be.

I'll remember Nixon as a solid right-fielder with occasional home run power and a member of the 2004 World Champions. I won't miss the pornstar-stache or the sweat-stained cap or the pine tar smeared batting helmet. I guess what I'm saying is, I'll take the new #7 over the old one.

Sorry, Dirt Dog.