Andruw Jones, Dodgers: Too Much, But Not for Long
I would rather have Torii Hunter than Andruw Jones. I would rather have Aaron Rowand than Andruw Jones.
And I certainly wouldn't give $36.2 million to Jones for two seasons. Not after reports out of Atlanta that Jones is gaining weight, slowing down and living off his reputation as a top center fielder. And not after noting he batted .222 last season, with a .311 on-base percentage -- a number so low it would embarrass Juan "The Outmaker" Pierre.
The Dodgers also are giving a $4 million-a-year raise to a guy who just had the worst season of his career.
But I can't get too agitated at Dodgers GM Ned Colletti because he didn't commit the two biggest sins he can commit during the offseason.
He didn't sign Jones for too long ... and he didn't have to give up any good young talent for Jones, a free agent.
(Which reminds me, the Atlanta Braves, who know Jones best, didn't even bother with trying to sign him. Hmmm.)
Worst case, Jones is Colletti's second CF bust in two seasons. He signed Pierre to a five-year, $45 million contract last fall, and Juan just isn't worth that sort of money.
Now the Dodgers are talking about moving Juan to left field, and maybe trading Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp, which is crazy, because both of those guys make far more sense as starters than does the slap-hitting, noodle-armed Pierre.
The Dodgers ought to just dump Pierre ... see if they can foist him and his ridiculous contract on somebody .. and play Ethier and Kemp in the corners. But no, that would call for them to admit Pierre was a mistake, and it's too early for that without embarrassment.
Anyway, yes, the Dodgers pretty much HAD to make some sort of offseason move, just to give the impression they're trying.
It really is far, far harder, and requires way more courage and discipline, to do nothing ... than to go out and do something "just because" ... which is what Andruw Jones looks like. A "just because" kind of move that fans will pay for, one way or another.
If Jones bounces back to be the guy who hit 51 homers in 2005, Ned is a genius.
If he is the guy who hit .222 with 26 homers in 154 games last year ... Ned has massively overspent for a center fielder in consecutive Novembers. Maybe he can try to make it three straight, next year.
Jones also has is gaining a rep as a guy who is a bit of a dog (even in his contract year, 2007), and Dodgers fans will not find that appealing,
Comments
These guys remind me of the Angels from the late 1970s and early 1980s - signing people on the downside of their career. The Angels finally wised up in the early 1990s and realized that they had to pay the piper and fully develop their farm system and then let the players coming up from it develop. Its a long, dreary road for the Dodgers. Being an fan of the best baseball team in Los Angeles, the Halos, I can only grin and smile at the "Big Blue" and the blues they truly now are.
Posted by: Tom Archbold | December 6, 2007 11:01 PM