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Saturday, June 13, 2009

L.A. Times: Andruw Jones says he left because of Frank McCourt

Reporting from Arlington, Texas—Sitting at his corner locker in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse Friday, Andruw Jones said the main reason he asked the Dodgers to release him this winter wasn’t his desire for a change of scenery.

He said he asked out mainly because of the way he was treated by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

“He wasn’t standing behind me, I think,” Jones said, adding that if McCourt had shown him more respect, “I almost definitely would be part of the L.A. Dodgers right now.”

McCourt was unavailable for comment.

“As things were going along, I didn’t think I was in their plans,” Jones said. “I had to make a decision and move on.

“I know they had Matt Kemp, who was going to play center field all the time, so I didn’t feel like I was in their plans.”

Jones said he started to get the sense that he was on his way out of Los Angeles when he met with McCourt before undergoing knee surgery last May.

“It was disrespect,” Jones said of the way McCourt spoke to him.

Jones said he was upset when his agent, Scott Boras, told him in the off-season that McCourt was looking into ways to void his contract.

While acknowledging that McCourt paid him a hefty salary, Jones said the owner had no right to complain about a deal that was mutually agreed upon.

“I got paid that money because that was my value,” Jones said, pointing to the numbers he posted in 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves.

Tripon Posted: June 13, 2009 at 02:53 PM | 19 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. PASTE is not impressed by Albert Pujols (Zeth) Posted: June 13, 2009 at 04:23 PM (#3217938)

Yes, and you got released because that was also your value - you weren't worth a roster spot.

2. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 13, 2009 at 04:24 PM (#3217941)

“He wasn’t standing behind me, I think ... I didn’t feel like I was in their plans.”

Frank McCourt and his GM, Ned Colletti, deserve blame for signing Andruw for the money (~ $36m/2 yrs) they did. However, why would McCourt "stand behind" Andruw Jones's terrible performance in L.A.? Jones put up a 34 OPS+ in 75 games in 2008 (only 52 total bases!) and for that was paid $14,726,910.

So far, it looks like Texas made a nice (though not all that meaningful*) acquisition with Jones, who has hit much better for the Rangers and shown good patience at the plate in his first 124 PAs. According to Cot's, Texas is paying $500,000 of Andruw's salary this season, while the Dodgers are picking up about $20.6 million of it ($12 million deferred.) In all, from the L.A. perspective, it works out to almost $700,000 for each base Jones gave them in 2008.

*Jones doesn't play CF any more. His value is with his bat. Yet Texas has a surfeit of good hitters. If Jones fell off the side of the planet, tomorrow, the Rangers wouldn't skip a beat.

3. Lazzeri Posted: June 13, 2009 at 04:54 PM (#3217954)

Well, damn, Andruw. I wonder why?

This man gave you $36MM of his own money to come play for his team, you show up to camp overweight and out of shape, and you end up making Juan Pierre look like DiMaggio. Yeah, I don't think I'd be too friendly either.

4. Tricky Dick Posted: June 13, 2009 at 05:09 PM (#3217962)

If McCourt was trying to find a way to void Andruw's contract, I can see why Jones would be upset. Sure, he has every right to look for a technicality to void the contract, but it's not exactly a way to win friends among current players or potential future free agents. A deal is a deal. Some deals don't turn out the way you want; that's not a good reason to try to get out of your contracts.

5. phredbird

Posted: June 13, 2009 at 05:21 PM (#3217968)

normally i am all player, all the time, but jones has great big brass ones to talk like that. what an utter douche bag. as mentioned above, he came to camp unbelievably out of shape and proceeded to play the worst possible cf imaginable. you had to see it to believe it.
frank mccourt can be faulted for a lot of things, but he has shown admirable restraint with this joke of an out of shape, lackadaisical, self-centered 'ballplayer'.
and i say that will all due respect.

6. ...even Chuck Norris was afraid of Jim Rice Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:01 PM (#3217991)

Just wow. Playing the disrespect card after what was, on a cost/performance basis, the worst season in major league history? Stay classy, Andruw.

7. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:06 PM (#3217993)

normally i am all player, all the time

Why?

8. Cowboy Popup Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:09 PM (#3217995)

I like that the headline suggests that Andruw left the Dodgers, as opposed to them cutting his worthless ass.

9. JoeHova Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:15 PM (#3217997)

Just wow. Playing the disrespect card after what was, on a cost/performance basis, the worst season in major league history? Stay classy, Andruw.

To be fair, most players with Jones' track record would not expect to be cut after one year, no matter how poor of a year it was, especially if they were only 31 years old. I can see why he would feel disrespected by that because it implied that the Dodgers thought he was really only as good as he played last year. OTOH, I can also see why the Dodgers would just want him the hell off the team.

10. akrasian Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:37 PM (#3218010)

To be fair, most players with Jones' track record would not expect to be cut after one year, no matter how poor of a year it was, especially if they were only 31 years old.

How often does a player with Jones' track record put up such a horrendously bad for the ages season at ANY age? Add in that the fans hated him, and he basically quit on his teammates (wouldn't even be around the team during the pennant race to cheer them on) and there was no reason to keep him, even with a bounce back season as a part time player handling corner spots.

11. smileyy Posted: June 13, 2009 at 06:41 PM (#3218011)

"L.A. Times: Andruw Jones says he left because of Frank…"

Tanana?

Headlines can be such a tease.

12. rfloh Posted: June 13, 2009 at 07:42 PM (#3218076)

To be fair, most players with Jones' track record would not expect to be cut after one year, no matter how poor of a year it was, especially if they were only 31 years old. I can see why he would feel disrespected by that because it implied that the Dodgers thought he was really only as good as he played last year.

To be fair though, most players with Jones' track record don't show up so fat after signing a nice new contract.

13. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 13, 2009 at 08:03 PM (#3218110)

To be fair though, most players with Jones' track record don't show up so fat after signing a nice new contract.

To be fair though, Frank McCourt did pay Andruw in coupons redeemable at Ben & Jerry's.

14. Sam Hutcheson is the 'saur with the rainbow roar Posted: June 13, 2009 at 08:16 PM (#3218125)

If McCourt thought Andruw was worth 3/36 and then starts looking for a way to *void the contract* when Andruw has a bad first season, that's a valid point.

15. Sam Hutcheson is the 'saur with the rainbow roar Posted: June 13, 2009 at 08:17 PM (#3218128)

To be fair though, most players with Jones' track record don't show up so fat after signing a nice new contract.

I have yet to see a scintilla of evidence that Jones was notably heavier in 2008 than he was in 2006-7. If the Dodgers were shocked by his body size and condition they should have scouted him prior to signing him.

16. ValueArb Posted: June 13, 2009 at 08:44 PM (#3218156)

To be fair, most players with Jones' track record would not expect to be cut after one year, no matter how poor of a year it was, especially if they were only 31 years old. I can see why he would feel disrespected by that because it implied that the Dodgers thought he was really only as good as he played last year.

One bad year?

2007 .222/.311/.413/.724
2008 .158/.256/.249/.505

What explains this year? Conditioning, or sample size?

17. Good cripple hitter Posted: June 13, 2009 at 08:50 PM (#3218160)

Well, he was only cut after one bad year with the Dodgers.

As for this year, I don't claim to know about Jones's conditioning, but put me down for sample size. In his last 28 days, he's gone .162/.238/.297.

18. Sam Hutcheson is the 'saur with the rainbow roar Posted: June 13, 2009 at 09:46 PM (#3218239)

I attribute Andruw's problems in 2007 and 2008 to 1) injury, both generic and specific and 2) his losing bat speed as a result of either injury or age or some combination thereof. If you want to argue that his conditioning drove his knee injury that's fine with me. I think it had as much or more to do with playing every day, 180+ games per year for a decade, but we'd both be conjecturing more than anything else. Regardless of root cause, injury chicken vs conditioning egg or whatnot, I still say that if the Dodgers were surprised that Jones was not in peak physical condition they should have scouted him a little more. Andruw's been reporting in essentially the same physical shape since the mid-2000's.

19. Steve Treder Posted: June 13, 2009 at 10:46 PM (#3218320)

How often does a player with Jones' track record put up such a horrendously bad for the ages season at ANY age?

Essentially never. Jones's 2008 was one of the very most spectacular flops in the history of the sport.

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L.A. Times: Andruw Jones says he left because of Frank McCourt

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