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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Andruw Jones wants to be traded from the Dodgers

How about Andruw Jones coming back from the Dodgers? It sounds like the fans don’t like him out there and he doesn’t want to be a part of that mix.
—David L., New York, N.Y.

This was the second-most popular question asked this week and the easy answer is “No.” Jones has told friends that he plans to approach the Dodgers and ask them to trade him. After hiding their excitement, the Dodgers will then have to find a suitor and determine how much of the $22.1 million they still owe him that they’ll have to eat.

Jones’ first choice would likely be to return home to the Braves. But even at a cost of $2 million, the Braves likely aren’t going to be willing to accommodate this homecoming. While hitting .158 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 75 games this past season, Jones said he was bothered by a sore knee. Members of the Braves organization said that he was bothered by the same knee discomfort during his days in Atlanta.

Some might say that could explain why he hit .222 for the Braves in 2007. But others will tell you that Jones’ swing started going wrong earlier this decade and now he’s facing the embarrassment that might have been avoided had he simply ended his stubborn, pull-happy ways.

What can the Dodgers get? A bag of baseballs? Two bags of baseballs?

Tripon Posted: October 21, 2008 at 05:56 PM | 60 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: dodgers

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1. Famous Original Joe C Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:42 PM (#2991296)

He's a sunk cost.

2. AROM Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:50 PM (#2991309)

Jones for Gary Matthews Jr.

3. xanthan Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:51 PM (#2991311)

He's a fat cost.

Fixed.

He had some great seasons between 1998-2006. I thought he could have been heading for a HoF career but I doubt he'll get in now.

4. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:52 PM (#2991312)

From cot's, the biggest contracts on the Dodgers payroll

Andruw Jones of
2 years/$36.2M (2008-09)

* signed as a free agent 12/07
* $12.2M signing bonus ($5.1M in 2008, $2.1M in 2009, $5M in 2010)
* 08:$9M, 09:$15M
* no-trade clause
* perks: suite on road

Jason Schmidt rhp
3 years/$47M (2007-09)

* signed as a free agent 12/06
* $10.5M signing bonus (paid 2008-2011)
* 07:$12.5M, 08:$12M, 09:$12M
* no-trade protection
* perks: premium tickets for home games

Juan Pierre of
5 years/$44M (2007-11)

* signed as a free agent 11/06
* 07:$7.5M, 08:$8M, 09:$10M, 10:$10M, 11:$8.5M
* contract includes limited no-trade protection

Hiroki Kuroda rhp
3 years/$35.3M (2008-10)

* signed as a free agent from Japan 12/15/07
* $7.3M signing bonus (paid between 3/2008 and 3/2010)
* 08:$5M, 09:$10M, 10:$13M
* no-trade protection

The team also holds $8.75M option ($2M buyout) on Penny

That's a lot of money tied up in Jones, Schmidt and Pierre
At least Kuroda has met or even exceeded expectations

5. nick swisher hygiene Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:54 PM (#2991315)

he looked worse than his stats at the plate: just soul-crushingly bad...

6. Halofan Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:55 PM (#2991317)

Straight up trade for Gary Matthews Jr. - he waives his no-trade clause because he does not have to move, the Angels cut Jones immediately and net $10 Million in savings from the $32 million they still owe Gary and McCourt gets a less terrible contract with a player fast approaching the skill set of Juan Pierre (who, too, reportedly has asked to be traded)

7. shoewizard Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:55 PM (#2991318)

He'll have to get in line behind Pierre.

How strange that these two guys are requesting trades. Like anyone else is going to play them.

8. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:56 PM (#2991320)

It's even stranger that both of them have no trade protection...
I bet both of them demand to be traded to a winner...

9. AROM Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:57 PM (#2991322)

Must be weird on the team for such useless players making so much money (not including Kuroda among the useless) while the younger, better players who actually do the jobs those three were paid to do (Billingsley, Kemp, Ethier) make about 450K each.

10. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:58 PM (#2991324)

"I thought he could have been heading for a HoF career but I doubt he'll get in now."

Yeah, he really seems to be heading for the Dale Murphy valley.

11. AROM Posted: October 21, 2008 at 08:59 PM (#2991325)

I wouldn't release Andruw if that trade were made, I'd be thankful for the total $ savings and give him a chance to make a comeback and beat out Reggie Willits in left.

12. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:01 PM (#2991331)

Must be weird on the team for such useless players making so much money (not including Kuroda among the useless) while the younger, better players who actually do the jobs those three were paid to do (Billingsley, Kemp, Ethier) make about 450K each.

This is why I'm hoping Colletti remains the GM for the next 10 years, and forces Logan White out on the street.

13. flournoy Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:04 PM (#2991336)

now he’s facing the embarrassment that might have been avoided had he simply ended his stubborn, pull-happy ways.

So now he's facing the embarrassment that might have been avoided had he done something other than what helped him be a star earlier in his career. Well, maybe, if I am to buy the premise that his "pull-happy ways" are responsible for his collapse. Similarly, if Craig Biggio had simply avoided becoming a professional baseball player, he would have avoided the embarrassment of his final season or two.

As a Braves fan, I don't want Andruw back, and I don't see why they'd even entertain the idea. Schuerholz announced immediately following the 2007 season (seriously, it was shocking how soon he made the announcement) that the Braves were not going to bring Andruw back and were going to go in a different direction in center field. Surely nothing Jones has done in the interim has changed their minds.

14. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:22 PM (#2991349)

Ex-Brave? Overpaid? Power hitter whose better days are behind him?

How can Dayton Moore resist?

15. Worrierking Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:22 PM (#2991350)

He should fight Jose Canseco. That'll improve his confidence.

Can Andruw still play a passable CF, or is that a thing of the past too?

16. Halofan Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:25 PM (#2991355)

AROM, you could beat out Reggie Willits ... runs CHONE projection on yourself and fax it to Reagins...

17. The cushions are crowded for Edmundo

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:36 PM (#2991366)

What can the Dodgers get? A bag of baseballs? Two bags of baseballs?

I believe that the new monetary standard for such a trade is magic beans.

18. Obi One Kenobi Nil

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:48 PM (#2991375)

used sweaty jock strap?

19. Swoboda is freedom Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:50 PM (#2991376)

Is there any reasonable chance that he could rebound? Have a Reuben Sierra season following a couple of down years?

20. Yeaarrgghhhh Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:51 PM (#2991379)

Throw in McDonald and DeJesus and you've got yourself a deal.

21. Cowboy Popup Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:53 PM (#2991381)

I wonder if the Yanks are interested. He is one of the few people who spent significant time on a MLB roster who was actually worse than Melky or Gardner, but he is a name, he's signed for one year so he can keep the seat warm for Jackson and he could conceivably bounce back.

22. Srul Itza Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:55 PM (#2991385)

he could conceivably bounce back.

Well, he does bear a more-than-passing resemblance to a superball.

23. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:56 PM (#2991386)

Jones does look like a overweight dead cat, so a decent bounce back is possible

24. JPWF13

Posted: October 21, 2008 at 09:57 PM (#2991388)

From cot's, the biggest contracts on the Dodgers payroll

If not for pulling Manny out of his hat- you'd have to think Colitis would be gone.

Query: Has Ned learned anything? (Yes people do learn, not everyone of course)- Is he looking at Pierre/Jones/Schmidt/Nomar, comparing them to Kemp, Loney etc... and saying, hmmmm I may have to rethink things?

Or is he looking at Manny, and saying, Yes! I knew I was just unlucky with Jones and Schmidt, how much $ does [insert seasoned veteran's name here] want?

25. bunyon Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:13 PM (#2991403)

He had some great seasons between 1998-2006. I thought he could have been heading for a HoF career but I doubt he'll get in now.

Well, maybe they'll widen the doors in a few years.

Must be weird on the team for such useless players making so much money (not including Kuroda among the useless) while the younger, better players who actually do the jobs those three were paid to do (Billingsley, Kemp, Ethier) make about 450K each.

If they have things called faculty meetings I'd feel right at home.

26. Biff isn't really an apt handle anymore Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:25 PM (#2991413)

the Dodgers will then have to find a suitor and determine how much of the $22.1 million they still owe him that they’ll have to eat.

They better act fast, or Andruw will eat it first.

27. OCD SS Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:33 PM (#2991420)

Or is he looking at Manny, and saying, Yes! I knew I was just unlucky with Jones and Schmidt, how much $ does [insert seasoned veteran's name here] want?

JASON VARITEK!

Are the Dodgers planning to let Furcal walk? A Jones for Lugo swap might work out if Jones was back in shape enough to play, the Sox need a RHHer who can play a pretty big RF and CF on occasion.

28. Scoriano Flitcraft Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:44 PM (#2991429)

For many years he was the best defensive CF I have ever seen.

29. Tripon Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:45 PM (#2991431)

Dodgers already went the Lugo situation and it did not work out for them in '06. Jason Varitek only makes sense if the Dodgers were actively trying to trade Martin(and despite rumors) which they're not. And had a catcher waiting in the wings to take over in a year or two. Which they don't. Carlos Santana might have been that guy, but he was traded away in the Casey Blake trade. The Dodgers might have a viable catcher waiting in the wings 3 or 4 years from now when Martin is getting expensive. They do not have such a player coming up 1 or 2 years from now since they traded away Santana, and Lucas May is not that player.

30. Crispix Attacks Posted: October 21, 2008 at 10:56 PM (#2991440)

The Dodgers need Curt Schilling, is what they need.

31. akrasian Posted: October 21, 2008 at 11:48 PM (#2991480)

Are the Dodgers planning to let Furcal walk?

The reports are that he's probably the free agent they have this offseason they most want to resign, or at least close to it.

32. Harris Posted: October 21, 2008 at 11:57 PM (#2991483)

For many years he was the best defensive CF I have ever seen.

If not for TBS, he would not have been heralded as such an awesome CFer. Diving for balls you misplayed off the bat means you had good recovery, not that you are a good fielder.
Strangely, getting fat and old means you can't use speed to recover from stupidity, ergo, see cliff, fall of cliff.

33. flournoy Posted: October 22, 2008 at 12:04 AM (#2991487)

Diving for balls you misplayed off the bat means you had good recovery, not that you are a good fielder.

This has nothing to do with what made Andruw so great.

34. Dan Szymborski

Posted: October 22, 2008 at 12:19 AM (#2991496)

If the Dodgers had paid Matt Kemp just a little more, they would've had a perfect -1 Spearman correlation for outfielder VORP and how much they paid.

35. Joe Bivens, Idiot Posted: October 22, 2008 at 12:32 AM (#2991502)

He should fight Jose Canseco.

I heard Canseco had expressed remorse about naming names in his book. I'm surprised there isn't a thread up about it.

Anyway, I guess he's fighting Danny Bonaduce in January, or whatever. Ha ha, Bonaduce is gonna avenge his fellow juicers. If there is a god, they'll knock each other out quickly.

36. AROM Posted: October 22, 2008 at 12:39 AM (#2991506)

AROM, you could beat out Reggie Willits ... runs CHONE projection on yourself and fax it to Reagins...

I think Willits could be alright. Sure, he's got less power than Juan Pierre but could contribute with a .375 OBP and speed. Overall he's be 10-15 runs below average in a corner outfield, but would make that up with defense and baserunning. It would be an entirely different way to be a league average player than Garret Anderson, but in the end the Angels would win the same number of games and Willits would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

37. Kyle S Posted: October 22, 2008 at 01:13 AM (#2991516)

Diving for balls you misplayed off the bat means you had good recovery, not that you are a good fielder.

Are you talking about Jim Edmonds? It's hard to believe someone who saw Andruw play defense ca. 2000 would say such a thing about him. He was never that fast - his greatest gift was the ability to immediately start running towards the exact spot the ball would land.

38. MM1f Posted: October 22, 2008 at 01:29 AM (#2991522)

Diving for balls you misplayed off the bat means you had good recovery, not that you are a good fielder.

WTF?

Andruw didn't even dive all that much. He just got there long before others would be there.

39. greenback

Posted: October 22, 2008 at 01:34 AM (#2991525)

Are you talking about Jim Edmonds? It's hard to believe someone who saw Andruw play defense ca. 2000 would say such a thing about him. He was never that fast - his greatest gift was the ability to immediately start running towards the exact spot the ball would land.

That pretty much describes Edmonds actually, just fantastic jumps. Well, there's that and the showboat dives.

40. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: October 22, 2008 at 01:58 AM (#2991541)

If not for TBS, he would not have been heralded as such an awesome CFer. Diving for balls you misplayed off the bat means you had good recovery, not that you are a good fielder.

This is an extremely poor analysis of Andruw's defense and does not say much for the poster's general baseball knowledge.

41. bfan Posted: October 22, 2008 at 01:40 PM (#2991572)

Before bashing Ned too much, remember that is signing of A. Jones by LA was generally lauded when done, because of the 2 year feature and the bet that 2007 was an anomoly. Shoot, even reading the BP and Bill James stuff from before the 2008 season, there were a lot of smart people that thought 2007 was the anomoly and a return close to the 2001-2006 norm was the good bet.

42. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: October 22, 2008 at 04:42 PM (#2991763)

After #40, I had to look back and see if I made the referred post.

43. Sheer Tim Foli

Posted: October 22, 2008 at 04:54 PM (#2991772)

You couldn't remember Dr?

44. Gaelan Posted: October 22, 2008 at 04:59 PM (#2991782)

Is Andruw Jones circa 2008 the worst baseball player in history? I have to think he is close if you disregard anomalies from the early years.

Related question, is the difference between Andruw Jones at his best and at his worse the largest in MLB history? I can't imagine that it isn't. At his best he was better than Dale Murphy and at his worse, he made the decaying corpse of Juan Pierre look good.

45. flournoy Posted: October 22, 2008 at 05:06 PM (#2991791)

Roy Halladay could contend for the best/worst honor.

46. AROM Posted: October 22, 2008 at 05:06 PM (#2991792)

Good question. He might have been the worst, especially considering the money he was given. Even a Mike Hampton 17 million, missed season to injury season hurts you less than Andruw did last year.

He was amazing in his best years, as Andruw had several years as a +20 defender for range alone, combined with good hitting and one of the best centerfield arms ever.

47. Danny Posted: October 22, 2008 at 05:22 PM (#2991811)

Andruw 08: 238 PA, -17.6 VORP
Dye 03: 253 PA, -21.3 VORP

Dye was in a 3/$32MM contract, so he wasn't making as much, but he was at least as bad.

48. rfloh Posted: October 22, 2008 at 05:40 PM (#2991831)

Hmm, Little Nicky Punto 2007: 536 PA, -27.1 VORP, 33.3 runs below position by EQA / EQR.

49. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: October 22, 2008 at 06:01 PM (#2991867)

Related question, is the difference between Andruw Jones at his best and at his worse the largest in MLB history?

Lou Gehrig.

50. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: October 22, 2008 at 06:03 PM (#2991870)

But others will tell you that Jones’ swing started going wrong earlier this decade and now he’s facing the embarrassment that might have been avoided had he simply ended his stubborn, pulled pork-happy ways.

Better?

51. Eric J is Financed by a Rich Grandpa Posted: October 22, 2008 at 06:12 PM (#2991884)

Related question, is the difference between Andruw Jones at his best and at his worse the largest in MLB history?

Lou Gehrig.

Could Ray Chapman compete here? (Hey, you started it...)

52. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2008 at 06:15 PM (#2991890)

i saw jones play a bunch this year, and he was unbelievably bad. saw the 5-strikeout game in may ... just unbelievable. torre gave him every chance and he could not deliver. hasn't torre been criticized for staying with vets too much? i guess the silver lining of having pierre and jones on the same team is that he was cured of that bad habit.

53. Gaelan Posted: October 22, 2008 at 09:03 PM (#2992080)

I'd forgotten about that Dye season. What is amazing is that he came back from that not only to not suck but to be really, really, good. That has to be the most spectacular fall, rise from the ashes, career event in MLB history.

There is 0.0% chance of Jones every being respectable again. I'd be shocked if anyone took him on. Watching him over the past two years I feel confident saying he is the worst player I have ever seen.

54. Tripon Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:06 PM (#3396876)

The Chicago White Sox have signed OF Andruw Jones to a 1-yr contract worth $500,000 and up to an additional $1 million in bonuses. #mlbpulse

http://twitter.com/dsportsdaily/status/6059248282

55. Best Regards, Larry M. Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:11 PM (#3396888)

Andruw Jones only turns 34 next April. That's ####### insane.

56. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:22 PM (#3396906)

So the Sox have locked up Kotsay, Teahen and Andruw so far this offseason. I guess that's something. I still don't get why they're making these moves before the non-tender date.

57. zonk Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:28 PM (#3396912)

So the Sox have locked up Kotsay, Teahen and Andruw so far this offseason. I guess that's something. I still don't get why they're making these moves before the non-tender date.

When you're chasing yesterday (add Vizquel to that mix), time is of the essence!

58. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:41 PM (#3396934)

When you're chasing yesterday (add Vizquel to that mix), time is of the essence!

Yeah, I forgot about Omar. An interesting plan for the Sox, so far.

59. RJ in TO Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:45 PM (#3396935)

eah, I forgot about Omar. An interesting plan for the Sox, so far.

Perhaps they're taking the "Finish the 1994 season" idea seriously.

60. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: November 25, 2009 at 09:48 PM (#3396941)

Perhaps they're taking the "Finish the 1994 season" idea seriously.

Ha! Nice. Once again Kenny is a step ahead of us.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Andruw Jones wants to be traded from the Dodgers

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