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Giles adds insurance at second for Rockies

Deal hinges on passing physical

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 8, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Marcus Giles and Nix are among several options to replace Kazuo Matsui.

Marcus Giles and Nix are among several options to replace Kazuo Matsui.

Jayson Nix

Jayson Nix

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Rookie Jayson Nix has the inside shot at the Rockies' second-base job.

But for insurance, the Rockies will bring major league veteran Marcus Giles to spring training, the Rocky Mountain News has learned.

Giles agreed to terms of a nonguaranteed deal, but it won't be finalized until he passes a physical, which he will undergo in Denver next week.

The Rockies decline to comment on contracts until after a player has passed a physical.

Second base is the one vacancy in the Rockies lineup. It opened when Kazuo Matsui filed for free agency and opted to sign a three-year deal with Houston instead of accepting a two-year contract from the Rockies.

Nix, who signed with the Rockies as a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds of the 2001 draft, was chosen as the most valuable player during the fall when he helped Team USA win the World Cup for the first time in three decades.

Other in-house candidates mentioned for the Rockies' second-base job have been Clint Barmes, the team's starting shortstop in 2005 and 2006, and Omar Quintanilla, a left- handed hitter. The Rockies also have had third basemen Ian Stewart and Jeff Baker work out at second to see how they might adapt.

But Giles has been an everyday second baseman with Atlanta and San Diego but has been let go at the end of each of the past two seasons. In 2007 with the Padres, Giles, who turns 30 on May 18, hit .229 with four home runs and 39 RBI in 116 games.

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com