A Few Good Men: 4 - Nix

Today is Part 4 of our 44 part series examining each player that suited up in a Curly W this year. Yes, this is probably a fool's errand and the worst CapBall move since Joe asked us to take over this blog - but it's also fun.

So sit back, relax, grab a nice cup of (Irish) coffee and enjoy the ride.

Laynce "The Daynce" Nix

How he became a Nat: Signed a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training February 3^rd.

The Raw Numbers:

Slugging Percentage: .451

Extra Base Hits: 32

Go Ahead Hits: 6

oRAR: 8

Key Stats: 124 games played with a 0.8 WAR for $700k. Simply put Laynce Nix was a stop gap for the Nats in every way. He helped carried a stagnant offense early in the year (let’s not forget he supplanted Beastmode in left field at one point). And at such an affordable price, he helped the Nats bridge the gap to a younger generation of stars.

Best Game: August 30 against the Braves. Nix went 2-4 with a HR, 2B, and 2 RBI. Nix doing what he was signed to do, be a left handed power hitter.

Worst Game: May 5^th against Roy Halladay and the Phillies. 7-3 loss. Nix was 0-3 with 3Ks. That’s a tough assignment but you have to put the ball in play, at least once.

Capball Grade: C+ Would have been higher but he was hurt by platooning and injuries. But for the price he did a yeoman’s job for the Nats this year. He provided key at bats and was a big left handed bat for a team without much on the left handed side. He also was a veteran voice in the clubhouse for a team just starting to establish their identity. Besides, who would've guessed that Laynce Nix would've made the team out of Spring Training?

2012 Nats Status: Doubtful he will return for 2012. I feel like the Nats and Laynce Nix are simply heading in different directions. But, if he did return it would likely be on a similar deal to his current one, which would be a team friendly contract.

Trade Watch 2011: Laynce Nix

Today, we're going to talk about one of the best surprises about the Nats 2011 season, and one that we didn't think had a chance to make the 25-man roster during Spring Training: Laynce "The Daynce" Nix.

Nix has spent time with Texas, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati before showing up in DC for this year's camp. A former defensive guy who bulked up big time, Nix can now not only cover the corner outfield positions well, but he can rake at the plate, too. He is just 1 home run shy of tying a career-high home run total in a single season after hitting two thus far in the Florida series, and it's only July 28th. He does swing at a bad pitch here or there, and he has trouble picking up breaking balls, but when he makes contact, he makes contact.

Because of these factors, he has definite value to a contender. While he's not high on the list of anyone's priority list, Nix's field versatility (LF, RF, CF, 1B) and ability to hit for power could make him a very cheap acquisition for a contending club.

Nix's major drawback is his achilles injury/tightness that isn't quite healed. He gets fairly regular time off with the Nats because of it, and contenders will take notice. The last thing they need is Nix to be killing the ball and miss a few games because of achilles tightness. Teams making a run simply can't afford it.

So, while we don't see Nix getting moved at the deadline, it's possible a team could see some value in him for the right type of deal. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.

25 in 25: Summing up the project and Laynce Nix (#25)

Tomorrow, we're all headed to Nationals Park for Opening Day. Over the last 25 days, we've guessed the Nationals Opening Day 25-man roster one day and one player at a time. Today, we conclude that list thrilled to say that we were 100% right on all of our picks. (I know, we're shocked, too.) To be honest, the Cora and Nix picks were made after the Nats already released the lineups. But the other 23 we got right on our own, and we feel pretty good about that.

But on to the completion of this great rundown: Laynce Nix.

Why?: Because Riggs and Rizzo said so. But let's talk about how he got there.

Entering camp this season, Nix seemed to have almost no chance to make the Nationals Opening Day roster. There were at least 6 guys (Werth, Morse, Morgan, Ankiel, Nix, Bernadina, and no, I don't even count Stairs as an OF) vying for at most 4 spots. With Werth, Morse, and seemingly Morgan almost guaranteed spots, that left a spot for one more. Most assumed it'd be either Ankiel or Bernie. Then Morgan got traded, Ankiel became the Opening Day CF, and Bernie got sent down. Enter Nix.

We're not going to spend a lot of time making a strong case for Nix, but some of his numbers are worth highlighting. Especially his numbers in Cincinnati last season. Granted, these were an anomaly for his career, but it's the most recent numbers and worth noting.

Cincinnati 2010: .291/.350/.455

Spring Training 2011: .243/.310/.459

What to expect?: If Nix can replicate his 2010 Cincinnati numbers, the Nats will have one heck of a back up outfielder on their hands. When starting OFs Morse, Ankiel, and Werth need days off, expect the lefty Nix to step in against right-handed pitching. On days where the starting OFs need a day off and the Nats are facing a lefty, we'll see Jerry Hairson, Jr. more often.

Expect Nix to be nothing but a back up all year, as Bernadina will likely be called up in the case of an OF injury, but the Nats might try to get Nix enough at-bats to become good trade bait if he's having a good season.