[Zen653]

I keep hearing that offering arbitration to Nixon spells the end of Manny. I don't see why that would necessarily be the case. Perhaps we're going to acquire our closer by trading Coco Crisp. If the Red Sox trade Crisp, then Pena or Drew can play CF (surprisingly, CF is actually Pena's best outfield position.) Nixon would essentially be platooning with Pena for another year. There's also the possibility that the Red Sox would simply trade Nixon even if he accepted arbitration. I don't know that one year of Nixon coming off an injury could fetch a whole lot. Maybe a serviceable setup man. Finally, there remains the possibility that Nixon would decline arbitration and sign a 2 year deal with another team. I don't know that a lot of teams would be willing to sacrifice a draft pick for Nixon but it only takes one team. Maybe one of the Red Sox West teams would be interested, or perhaps some random place like Pittsburgh.