NEW YORK (AP) -The New York Mets bolstered their injury-depleted outfield Friday night, acquiring Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The 34-year-old Nixon hit .309 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs in 58 games after Triple-A Tucson after failing to make the Diamondbacks’ big league roster out of spring training.
Arizona gets cash or a player to be named in the deal.
Nixon is expected to fill the void left by Moises Alou, who went back on the disabled list Friday with a lingering calf strain.
The Mets also are without right fielder Ryan Church, who is on the 15-day disabled list with post-concussion syndrome, and reserve outfielder Angel Pagan, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Nixon hit .251 with three homers and 31 RBIs in 99 games last season with Cleveland, but was at his best in the playoffs. He was 5-for-11 with a homer and three RBIs against the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
Nixon had an option in his contract that would have made him a free agent June 2, a deadline that he and Arizona extended earlier this month.
“In the business of signing players who have had such illustrious careers, staying to be a protection guy had to be a collaborative effort,” Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes said. “He’s not going to spend the whole year in Triple-A when there was opportunity elsewhere.”
Nixon, a member of Boston’s 2004 World Championship team, has a .275 batting average in 11 big league seasons, 10 with the Red Sox. He had his best year in 2003, when he batted .306 with a career-high 28 homers and 87 RBIs.
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