Andruw Jones to 15-day DL
Once again, the move is to clear a roster spot for Nomar Garciaparra, who was activated today. The Las Vegas 51s begin a 13-game trip tonight, and Andruw is expected to join them on it at some point. I asked both Joe Torre and Ned Colletti, separately, whether they now believe it was a mistake to activate Jones on July 4 (at Jones' request, in response to Juan Pierre going on the DL), instead of letting him stay on his rehab through the All-Star break, as originally planned. These were their answers:
Joe: ``It could have been. I think we have that opportunity now to have him go out there and play and have enough at-bats where he could have gotten comfortable. We were in a weakened position with Juan going down. (Jones) texted me that day, and I kind of caved in. He and I went back and forth, and I kept saying, `Are you sure you're ready to do this, that and the other?' And I talked to (minor-league hitting coach) Jeff (Pentland), and he liked what he was seeing as far as how (Jones) was swinging the bat. We probably should have, in hindsight, left him there a little longer.''
Ned: ``You never want to dampen somebody's enthusiasm to try to help the club. This was (Jones') idea. He rushed back and wanted to help the club. In hindsight, yeah, you wish we could have taken the proper amount of time and gotten him healed. But it's tough for me to be critical of a guy who wants to help the club.''
While I appreciate what Joe and Ned are saying about Andrew's determination to help the team when Pierre went out, the majority of Andrew Jones' issues are purely psychological. Something must have happened in Atlanta last year to go from the player he was two years ago to the player we saw last season and this season. I understand Mattingly has been incredible in helping him with his confidence but ultimately if he doesn't get passed this, his career might soon be over.
In the meantime, the team is better of with an outfield of Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier, which has been said by so many on this blog.