JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: FOX: MOORAD HIRING IS THE RIGHT MOVE.

Byline: Nathan Kurz Special to the Daily News

LANCASTER - Eric Fox thinks the Arizona Diamondbacks made a great decision by bringing player agent Jeff Moorad aboard to run the organization. And he should know better than most. Moorad, who was named the CEO of the Diamondbacks effective Jan. 1, 2005, was Fox's agent for 12 years and helped negotiate the latter's first professional contract.

``He's always been a good baseball man,'' Fox said. ``He knows a lot of people in the business. It's kind of ironic that in my first year with the Diamondbacks, Jeff starts working here too.''

Fox's relationship with Moorad dates to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Moorad's first clients were members of the U.S. baseball team: Will Clark and John Hoover. Fox also was supposed to be on the team but injured his knee just before the opening ceremonies. He eventually rehabilitated the injury and was represented by Moorad when he was selected fifth overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 1986 draft. Fox also played with Oakland and Texas during his big league career.

``If there's one thing I've learned after all these years in baseball,'' Fox said, ``it's that everything is about relationships. Jeff has always cared about the people that he's dealt with. He's never burned any bridges.''

Moorad is one of the game's most powerful sports agents. Among his clients are Manny Ramirez and Dusty Baker, and he was named to the Sporting News' top-100 most powerful people in sports.

Moorad replaces Jerry Colangelo, who was reportedly forced out by team owners after a disagreement over the direction of the franchise.

--Second coming: This weekend, Fox and Reggie Abercrombie had their first discussion about hitting since the latter's arrival in Lancaster, and the former major leaguer had an important observation to share.

``We were watching video, and I told Reggie that I see as much talent in him as I saw with a young (Ken) Griffey Jr.,'' said Fox, who played with the center fielder when the two were teammates in Seattle.

Scouts have raved about Abercrombie's physical attributes. He considered playing football in college before deciding on baseball. But his plate discipline has been less than stellar. He struck out 164 times in 448 at-bats in 2003 for Double-A Jacksonville (Fla.) and has 101 strike outs in 320 at-bats this year for Jacksonville, Vero Beach (Fla.) and Lancaster.

According to Baseball America's Prospect Handbook, Abercrombie is ``overaggressive, gets off balance and chases too many pitches in the dirt and out of the zone.''

But Fox knows what needs to be mended.

``It's just a matter of slowing his body down,'' he said. ``Reggie floats toward pitchers, gets off balance and then he can't use his lower half. He's aggressive, so we've got to calm him a little bit.''

--A little late: The JetHawks handed out 500 posters of the ``Three Amigos'' on Saturday even though the prolific threesome hadn't been on the roster for about six weeks. Carlos Quentin, Conor Jackson (El Camino of Woodland Hills) and Jamie D'Antona were promoted to Double-A El Paso (Texas) on June 20.

JetHawks spokesman Dan Hubbard said the team planned the promotion months in advance, as many minor league clubs often do.

``They were an integral part of this team, so it doesn't matter if they are here or not,'' he said.

Such snafus also occur at the major league level. On Saturday, the Chicago White Sox distributed bobblehead dolls in the likeness of former pitcher Esteban Loiaza, who was shipped to the Yankees at this year's trading deadline.