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D-Backs interested in Easley as second base alternative
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PRACTICE: Damion Easley takes batting practice during spring training in 2006 as a member of the DiamondBacks.
Tribune
The Diamondbacks’ search for a second baseman has led them to a name from their past, Damion Easley.
Easley spent 2006 with the D-Backs, playing primarily as a reserve at shortstop and third base, but general manager Josh Byrnes has spoken to Easley’s representatives during his quest to identify a possible platoon partner at second base.
The D-Backs have made a one-year contract offer to Ramon Vazquez, a left-handed hitter, although Vazquez’s camp is seeking multiple years.
Easley, who hits right-handed, has played 103 games at second base for the New York Mets the last two seasons, combining to hit .273 with 16 doubles, 16 home runs and 70 RBIs in 509 at-bats.
The D-Backs have not made an offer to Easley, agent Paul Cohen said, but the sides expect to speak further.
Arizona is “definitely a possibility,” Cohen said. “It is something Damion would definitely be interested in.”
A move would bring Easley home. He lives in the West Valley and is close to D-Backs’ first baseman Tony Clark, a free agent who remains unsigned.
Easley hit .233 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in only 189 at-bats with the D-Backs in 2006, when he played every infield position but got most of his starts as a matchup alternative to left-handed hitting Chad Tracy at third base and Craig Counsell and Stephen Drew at shortstop. He even made one start in right field.
The D-Backs are one of five teams that have expressed interest in Easley, Cohen said.
“He feels he can play a lot, but he understands that wherever he is, he will likely be in a super utility role and as a platoon player at second base,” Cohen said. “He’s been a super utility guy for the last several years and had two really good years for the Mets.”
Easley, 39, was the regular second baseman in Detroit from 1997-2002, when he hit 94 homers, but has been a role player since. Statistically, the best of those seasons have come in the last two years.
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