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Thursday, September 04, 2008

L.A. Times: Andruw Jones has written off the season (RR)

Funny, I thought that happened in April.

With the Dodgers’ outfield set, the regular season winding down and his knee swollen again, Andruw Jones said he had already started looking forward to next year.

“This year,” Jones said, “it’s basically over.”

Jones scaled back his workouts this week and admitted he doesn’t think he can make much of a contribution this season, not with only 23 games left and Manager Joe Torre settled on an outfield of Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

“If the team needed me and I was the only one who could be out there, I would wrap it up and play,” said Jones, who cut short the first of his two rehab assignments to step in for an injured Juan Pierre in early July. “In this situation, we have other guys who have been getting the job done. I’ll try not to be in their way.”

...“I’ve got one more year with the Dodgers,” he said. “This year, it’s been a frustrating year. It’s one of those things that you have to put behind you and look forward to next year.”

Repoz Posted: September 04, 2008 at 12:10 PM | 28 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: dodgers

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1. billyshears Posted: September 04, 2008 at 02:24 PM (#2928817)

Andruw Jones should be allowed to take steroids. That way we could see if he's lost it for no particular reason or if he's lost it because he was too lazy to keep himself in shape.

2. DRR Posted: September 04, 2008 at 02:40 PM (#2928841)

Would it be that hard to drop 10 pounds?

Andrew Jones knows infinitely more about what it takes for him to succeed in the MLB than I do but I think it would be a nice start.

3. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: September 04, 2008 at 02:46 PM (#2928849)

Andruw has written it off, killed it, butchered it, marinated it in a tangy teriyaki-soy concontion for a week, and grilled it on an open flame before he chopped it up and served it with pita bread and a salad made entirely of bacon.

4. James SC Posted: September 04, 2008 at 02:47 PM (#2928851)

Kind of sad when your 18 m $ player realizes he is more of a help to the team on the DL

5. ellsbury my heart at wounded knee Posted: September 04, 2008 at 03:01 PM (#2928872)

I'm about the same age as Andruw and I lost 10 pounds pretty much by accident this summer, and I'm not even a chamillionaire professional athlete.

Of course, next season is the only one that counts for his next contract anyway. If he hit 30 HR, no one will care that he was a big turd this year. Of course, that means someone would have to give him a starting job, which at this point may not be a given.

6. Belfry Bob Posted: September 04, 2008 at 03:51 PM (#2928968)

“This year, it’s been a frustrating year. It’s one of those things that you have to put behind you and look forward to next year.”

and Andruw's got the behind to do it!

7. Dingbat_Charlie

Posted: September 04, 2008 at 03:57 PM (#2928977)

thanks #3, now I'm starving.

8. Styles P. Deadball Posted: September 04, 2008 at 04:04 PM (#2928985)

Any chance Andruw will donate this year's salary to charity for wasting everyone's time?

I was going to say "give it back," but screw Colletti and McCourt. They shouldn't get off scot-free.

9. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: September 04, 2008 at 04:12 PM (#2928997)

thanks #3, now I'm starving.

Welcome to Andruw's world! How's the man supposed to hit with hs stomach a-gurgling and food-expectating all the time. It'll drive a man delirious.

Any chance Andruw will donate this year's salary to charity for wasting everyone's time?

No. About as much chance of the CEO of Lehman Bros. topping off the retirement packages of the back office workers whose stock options collapsed this year.

10. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle) Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:23 PM (#2929112)

Quitter.

11. Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:31 PM (#2929122)

People keep saying that Andruw's bad season is because he's fat. He lost a lot of weight in 2007 and had a mediocre year for him after very good 2005-2006 seasons when he was bigger. I don't think that's his biggest problem.

12. Boots Day Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:31 PM (#2929123)

In Soviet Russia, the season writes off Andruw Jones.

13. The cushions are crowded for Edmundo

Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:55 PM (#2929153)

In Soviet Russia, the season writes off Andruw Jones.
That confirms my suspicion that Putin is trying to poison the Curacao-US relationship.

14. Greg Pope Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:56 PM (#2929155)

Isn't he pretty much paralleling Dale Murphy's career? All I've seen in regards to Jones is speculation about his weight. There's no injury, disease, nothing.

15. Don't want the truth; just wanna see some dingers Posted: September 04, 2008 at 05:59 PM (#2929159)

The Prince Fielder diet has hurt Prince, but it might work wonders for Andruw.

16. Brandon in MO (Yunitility Infielder) Posted: September 04, 2008 at 06:21 PM (#2929183)

Maybe Andruw is having a bad season because he's not fat enough.

17. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: September 04, 2008 at 06:22 PM (#2929186)

The Prince Fielder diet has hurt Prince, but it might work wonders for Andruw.

Nahh, it'd take Andruw a week or longer to fully digest Prince, during which time he'd be able to do little more than lie on his side and moan.

18. aleskel

Posted: September 04, 2008 at 06:29 PM (#2929198)

There's no injury, disease, nothing.

I read somewhere that, since he's been hitting off of his back leg for so long, there's a good chance his knee is absolutely shot

19. Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: September 04, 2008 at 06:31 PM (#2929203)

Andruw was pretty big during his two really good years. I think the weight issues is just a distraction to the real problem. Whatever that is.

20. Booey Posted: September 04, 2008 at 10:27 PM (#2929422)

21. Steve Treder Posted: September 04, 2008 at 10:37 PM (#2929433)

Is there a good comp for Andruw? Right off the top of my head I can't think of any other HOF caliber talent that just completely lost it so soon and so suddenly for seemingly no reason. Someone mentioned Dale Murphy, but he was at least a few years older (32 to 30), and wasn't he dealing with some well known injuries? I don't really remember...

It wasn't widely known at the time, but Murphy later revealed that he was dealing with deteriorating knees: not bad enough to keep him out of the lineup, but bad enough to rob him of torque and bat speed. Kind of like Jones, at that. Obviously they aren't identical, but the Murphy case is very similar to that of Andruw.

It is shaping up as one of the colossal collapses. Yet another example illustrating the wisdom of not making too many predictions about a player in mid-career.

22. Cooperstown Schtick Posted: September 04, 2008 at 10:40 PM (#2929437)

Andruw was pretty big during his two really good years. I think the weight issues is just a distraction to the real problem. Whatever that is.

Swallowing a lot of aggression?

23. Greg Pope Posted: September 04, 2008 at 11:36 PM (#2929459)

It wasn't widely known at the time, but Murphy later revealed that he was dealing with deteriorating knees: not bad enough to keep him out of the lineup, but bad enough to rob him of torque and bat speed. Kind of like Jones, at that. Obviously they aren't identical, but the Murphy case is very similar to that of Andruw.

I wonder if there's something physically wrong with Jones that he hasn't revealed. Something he considers embarassing, like HIV? The cases of that kind of talent cratering without real reasons are so few that the default assumption should be that something's wrong.

24. Steve Treder Posted: September 04, 2008 at 11:48 PM (#2929464)

I wonder if there's something physically wrong with Jones that he hasn't revealed.

Could be, but I don't think his situation requires anything more than knee trouble to explain it. He's undergone knee surgery this season and been on the DL twice, and was done for the year in early August.

He's been putting a lot of strain on his knees for a long time, with the combination of his weight and all those innings in center field. The gradual decline in bat speed over the past couple of years as well as the sudden fall off the cliff this year could quite adequately be a function of deteriorating knees.

The cases of that kind of talent cratering without real reasons are so few that the default assumption should be that something's wrong.

I certainly agree, and those cases "without real reasons" are very likely more accurately understood as "without real reasons of which we're informed."

25. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: September 04, 2008 at 11:55 PM (#2929466)

"Something he considers embarassing, like HIV?"

Wow, um, that came out of nowhere.

26. ValueArb Posted: September 04, 2008 at 11:58 PM (#2929470)

Don't quit Andruw. I wanþ to see you in that LA outfield the rest of the year.

27. Walt Davis Posted: September 05, 2008 at 02:32 AM (#2929542)

Operation Now You Tell Us

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L.A. Times: Andruw Jones has written off the season (RR)

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