Around the Horn: Corner infielders
01/25/2006
A season after turning the corner, the Diamondbacks will be looking at the corners. Arizona's wide range of potential, from also-ran to front-runner, pretty much rests in the hands of a pair of high-end youngsters given jobs and the responsibilities that go with them.
Conor Jackson moves in at first base and Chad Tracy moves in at third, positions they earned with their promise. If they maintain their career paths, the decision to clear those paths will have been justified.
Last season, both were in the mix at first base, along with rejuvenated veteran Tony Clark. Now each gets his own base and, if they click, fans may be looking at the team's guts for the rest of the decade and beyond.
General manager Josh Byrnes may have been the one making the offseason moves, but Tracy was the one who put them in motion. His quantum leap in 2005 encouraged the Troy Glaus trade that overhauled the entire infield.
Tracy returns to third base, his favorite and presumably best position, clearing Jackson's way at first. Orlando Hudson, acquired from Toronto in the Glaus move, moves in at second, nudging Craig Counsell across the bag to short.
That's pretty heady influence for a 25-year-old. Tracy earned it with his production last season, even while shuttling between first and right field (where he made 51 starts). In fact, accommodating Tracy and finding a permanent position for him had been manager Bob Melvin's top offseason priority.
So Glaus was moved, only one year after being a trophy free-agent catch with a four-year contract. What changed? Well, in 2004, as the primary third baseman, Tracy's eight homers and 53 RBIs weren't up to the caliber the position demands. Last season, in only a handful more at-bats, he homered 27 times and drove in 72 (while hitting .308).
It was time to re-think the long-range plan. The confidence of having established himself offensively may settle Tracy's defense at the hot corner, where he had 25 errors in 2004, most of them on throws.
Tracy will have a busy Spring Training, working on improving the footwork he blames for most of his defensive woes. He obviously doesn't have to worry about something else he feels affected him that season: rookie jitters.
"I think it was a product of me being a rookie and being nervous and not being comfortable in my surroundings," Tracy had said in the wake of Glaus' departure. "It's not as big of an issue for me, because I don't think about messing up anymore."
Jackson has less history, but as much promise. He had a rough big-league baptism the last two months of the season, batting .200 in 85 at-bats with modest power. But the 2003 top draft choice has burned up the Minor League ladder, and everyone was anxious to see what he can do with an opportunity.
"It does put more responsibility on Jackson," Byrnes said, "which I think he is ready for."
Jackson's track record has "can't-miss" stamped all over it. While zooming up the chain, short-season Class A through Triple-A, he compiled a .332 average in three years. He was chewing up the Pacific Coast League at a .354 rate last summer, so no wonder the Diamondbacks promoted him two weeks after his appearance in the 2005 MLB Futures Game.
That experience was Jackson's first in a Major League environment, and he had said in Detroit, "This is where you want to be. But more important, this is where you want to stay."
His staying power may depend somewhat on that other kind of power. Even in college, at the University of California, Jackson rarely flashed the long-ball prowess looked for in 6-foot-3, 210-pound first basemen. His 1,074 Minor League at-bats produced 31 home runs.
For a big guy, he also rarely strikes out. With some big-league mentoring, he might find a productive balance between contact and power.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
A season after turning the corner, the Diamondbacks will be looking at the corners. Arizona's wide range of potential, from also-ran to front-runner, pretty much rests in the hands of a pair of high-end youngsters given jobs and the responsibilities that go with them.
Conor Jackson moves in at first base and Chad Tracy moves in at third, positions they earned with their promise. If they maintain their career paths, the decision to clear those paths will have been justified.
Last season, both were in the mix at first base, along with rejuvenated veteran Tony Clark. Now each gets his own base and, if they click, fans may be looking at the team's guts for the rest of the decade and beyond.
General manager Josh Byrnes may have been the one making the offseason moves, but Tracy was the one who put them in motion. His quantum leap in 2005 encouraged the Troy Glaus trade that overhauled the entire infield.
Tracy returns to third base, his favorite and presumably best position, clearing Jackson's way at first. Orlando Hudson, acquired from Toronto in the Glaus move, moves in at second, nudging Craig Counsell across the bag to short.
That's pretty heady influence for a 25-year-old. Tracy earned it with his production last season, even while shuttling between first and right field (where he made 51 starts). In fact, accommodating Tracy and finding a permanent position for him had been manager Bob Melvin's top offseason priority.
So Glaus was moved, only one year after being a trophy free-agent catch with a four-year contract. What changed? Well, in 2004, as the primary third baseman, Tracy's eight homers and 53 RBIs weren't up to the caliber the position demands. Last season, in only a handful more at-bats, he homered 27 times and drove in 72 (while hitting .308).
It was time to re-think the long-range plan. The confidence of having established himself offensively may settle Tracy's defense at the hot corner, where he had 25 errors in 2004, most of them on throws.
Tracy will have a busy Spring Training, working on improving the footwork he blames for most of his defensive woes. He obviously doesn't have to worry about something else he feels affected him that season: rookie jitters.
"I think it was a product of me being a rookie and being nervous and not being comfortable in my surroundings," Tracy had said in the wake of Glaus' departure. "It's not as big of an issue for me, because I don't think about messing up anymore."
Jackson has less history, but as much promise. He had a rough big-league baptism the last two months of the season, batting .200 in 85 at-bats with modest power. But the 2003 top draft choice has burned up the Minor League ladder, and everyone was anxious to see what he can do with an opportunity.
"It does put more responsibility on Jackson," Byrnes said, "which I think he is ready for."
Jackson's track record has "can't-miss" stamped all over it. While zooming up the chain, short-season Class A through Triple-A, he compiled a .332 average in three years. He was chewing up the Pacific Coast League at a .354 rate last summer, so no wonder the Diamondbacks promoted him two weeks after his appearance in the 2005 MLB Futures Game.
That experience was Jackson's first in a Major League environment, and he had said in Detroit, "This is where you want to be. But more important, this is where you want to stay."
His staying power may depend somewhat on that other kind of power. Even in college, at the University of California, Jackson rarely flashed the long-ball prowess looked for in 6-foot-3, 210-pound first basemen. His 1,074 Minor League at-bats produced 31 home runs.
For a big guy, he also rarely strikes out. With some big-league mentoring, he might find a productive balance between contact and power.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home