Minor league career The
Arizona Diamondbacks selected Tracy in the seventh round of the
2001 Major League Baseball draft. He played third base in
El Paso, Texas, for the
El Paso Diablos. In four minor league seasons, Tracy hit .335 with 24
home runs, 85
doubles, and 206
runs batted in (RBIs) in 337
games. In , he was selected to participate in the
All-Star Futures Game during the
All-Star break as the starting third baseman on the U.S. squad.
Arizona Diamondbacks 2004–08 Tracy made his major league debut with Arizona in . He finished his rookie season with a .285 average, eight home runs, 53 RBIs, and a .343
on-base percentage in 143 games. He led NL third basemen with 25
errors and his .935
fielding percentage was the lowest among all qualified major league fielders. In , Tracy had a breakout season, as he batted .308 (7th-best in the league) with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs. He also had a
slugging percentage of .533, 10th-best in the NL. Tracy's numbers dipped in the season. He batted .281 with 20 homers and 80 RBIs. His slugging percentage went down over 100 points from his 2005 total, going from .553 to .451. His 129
strikeouts went up as they nearly doubled his 2005 total. He also tied
Edwin Encarnación for the major league lead in errors by a third baseman with 25. He matched his poor .935 fielding percentage from 2004, this year better than only Encarnación. His numbers dipped again in 2007, as he batted .264—the lowest batting average of his major league career. In 2008, he had his lowest on-base percentage (.308) and slugging percentage (.414) of his major league career, as he batted .267.
2009 in . On May 6, 2009, Tracy (who was batting .224) was replaced in the starting lineup by
Josh Whitesell, who was called up to the Diamondbacks after
hitting .356/.477/.552 for the
Reno Aces. Manager
Bob Melvin said Whitesell would get a chance to play every day, and that Tracy "is going to pinch hit, (and) he's going to fill in at third and first for a while." A right-oblique strain that Tracy suffered May 29 led to him being placed on the 15-day
disabled list. Tracy came off the disabled list after missing all of June.
Tony Clark was released in mid-July, and Whitesell was called back up for the third time in the season to replace him on July 16. Tracy said: Obviously, I want the playing time, I want to be out there every day. Right now, there are a lot of question marks, especially for me, and some of the other guys that are on their last year of their contract or have some value to be traded, so I think we're probably at that point now where anything can happen. I wouldn't be surprised by anything. Manager
A.J. Hinch spoke with Tracy, who was batting a career-low .222 with a .288 on-base percentage at the time, and Whitesell on July 17. He told them that Whitesell would get the bulk of the action at first base, starting four or five times a week "for the time being". After the 2009 season, the Diamondbacks did not pick up Tracy's $7 million option for 2010, making him a free agent.
Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Florida Marlins On January 26, 2010, Tracy signed a minor league contract with the
Chicago Cubs with an invite to spring training. The deal was announced on January 27, 2010. On March 29, the Cubs announced that Tracy had made the Cubs' 25 man roster. On May 7, Tracy was sent down to the
Triple-A Iowa Cubs to make room for
Starlin Castro. Tracy was
designated for assignment by the Cubs on June 25 and released on July 1. and he was assigned to the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees but eventually opted out of his contract, making him a free agent. Tracy signed with the
Florida Marlins on August 5, 2010. He played in 41 games for the Marlins, batting .245 with 1 home run.
Hiroshima Toyo Carp Tracy signed with the
Hiroshima Toyo Carp of
Nippon Professional Baseball to play the 2011 season. In 40 games, he batted .235 with 1 home run.
Washington Nationals Tracy signed a minor league contract with the
Washington Nationals in the spring of 2012. He showed enough improvement at the plate during spring training to make the club's
opening day roster. He was made a member of the Nationals' bench, where he was a productive left-handed bat. In his first season in 2012, he hit .269, but declined to just .202 in 2013, his final season for the Nationals.
Retirement Tracy signed a minor league deal with the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on January 29, 2014. He was released on March 23. On April 26, Tracy announced his retirement from baseball. ==Personal life==