Royce

Clayton

That’s be a nice insurance policy for the Rockies, but Clayton, 34, believes he’s still capable of being an everyday player. Look for him to explore the market after his .278-8-53 season.

Speculation is that there’s already a two-year deal in place with Clayton, though it won’t become official until after the Dec. 7 arbitration deadline.

Multiyear deals for everyone!!! Clayton, who turns 35 in January, last year hit .259/.315/.334 away from Coors Field, numbers right in line with his season totals from the previous two season. He’s still a pretty good defensive shortstop, but that’s not going to last forever. As a one-year stopgap, he’d be not horrible There’s just not any reason to give him a two-year deal. And it’d be an especially bad idea to do it now since he’s a Type A free agent who won’t be offered arbitration.

An option for 2006 may be included. The deal will become official after the shortstop takes a physical.

There’s a real chance that the Diamondbacks and Clayton actually came to terms weeks ago. However, since the Diamondbacks don’t want to give up a draft pick to sign him, they had no intention of announcing the deal prior to Tuesday’s arbitration deadline.

Clayton will take over as Arizona’s shortstop and act as the primary outmaker in the lineup.

Apparently, the team is more concerned about how Clayton would fit into the clubhouse than whether he’s any good or not. “That’s why we have taken our time with him, to determine more about him as a person,” GM Dan O’Dowd said. If the Rockies sign Clayton, they still could continue to look for a regular shortstop. It’s possible that they’ll trade for either Carlos Guillen or Chris Woodward if one of those two gets displaced by Aurilia.

The Rockies no longer appear to have much interest in Deivi Cruz. Under normal circumstances, that would be viewed as a good thing. In this case, the alternative is far worse. The Rockies like their chances of landing Aurilia a little better now that the Rangers aren’t in the market for a shortstop, but it’s still more likely that the ex-Giant will head to Seattle or Toronto.

The Orio... er, Rockies are looking to spend about $1 million on a shortstop, limiting their choices to players like Clayton and Deivi Cruz. We’re going to guess that they’re just looking at Clayton so that the fans won’t feel so bad when Cruz is the choice.

With manager Clint Hurdle calling Denny Hocking the Rockies’ best defensive second baseman, and using him more and more, the Rockies have one of the ugliest fantasy middle infields around. And yet Clayton, whom this writer disparaged mercilessly in the preseason for his shortcomings as a No. 2 hitter, is hitting .312 with 15 runs scored and a 780 OPS. Sell high, sell high.