Yanks Sign Andruw Jones
Via Jayson Stark -
Fifteen years after he put on an eye-popping October show in the first game he ever played in Yankee Stadium, outfielder Andruw Jones agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with the Yankees on Thursday, sources confirmed to ESPN.com.
He can also earn an additional $1.2 million in incentives. Jones will earn $150,000 each for 250 and 275 plate appearances, $200,000 apiece for 300 and 325, and $250,000 each for 350 and 375, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
Jones, who turns 34 next April, is a long ways removed from his glory days in Atlanta, where he once hit 51 homers in a season, won 10 straight Gold Gloves and played in 75 postseason games. But he did hit 19 homers in 278 at-bats last year for the White Sox and slugged .558 against left-handed pitching.
He’s also still a dependable defender at all three outfield positions.
So for $2 million, the Yankees think he’s a good fit as a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder to complement the left-handed bats of Brett Gardner in left and Curtis Granderson in center.
Almost a year, to the day, that Cashman spent $2 million on Randy Winn. This $2 million is a better gamble. If Gardner’s second-half woes carry into 2011 and/or if Granderson’s spurt at the end of 2010 was a fluke, Jones could be in a good position to collect those incentive bonuses too.
This is a solid signing. Good job by Cashman.
Like any other move this could backfire.
But there’s no solid reason to believe that Jones won’t be a competent 4th OF, and the price isn’t all that much.
(And they didn’t have to lose a draft pick, either; hee hee!)
Evan3457 wrote:
LOL!
I don’t know. Jones is 34 and coming off 4 straight “off seasons.” It might work out, but it has “Johnny Callison” written all over it.
Jim TreshFan wrote:
Do you consider 2010 an off-season though? For a fourth-outfielder to have a OPS+ (118) like his, providing a better WAR than Thames (1.5 > 0.9) and his ability to hit lefties (,914 OPS), I wouldn’t consider it really an “off-season” (unless you are comparing his statistics to his of yesteryear, though he’s not that player anymore), but more as a season where he performed as well as you can expect from a fourth-outfielder.
Jones isn’t an every-day outfielder, but for a fourth outfielder with the production he put up last year and being more competent than Thames in the outfield, I can dig it.
It is interesting that, for only 2 mill, that a team like the Royals, Twins, Pirates, Nationals or Padres didn’t make a run at Jones. Then again, maybe they did and he passed on them for NY? But, there are other teams where he would/should get more playing time – and would not break their budget…unless the Yankees are telling him that he’s a lock to get 300-350 PA this year with them?
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Agreed. Although based on my own opinion of Andrux (and judging by his physique over the years), I take it that playing every day is not something he’s ever truly cared about. In my own opinion, Andruw is as lazy as Manny Ramirez, just not as surly and self-involved.
MJ Recanati wrote:
The Dodgers would concur – and, they had both of them!
Steve Lombardi wrote:
I do wonder that. I believe that Jones rejected the Yankees two years ago (after his worst season) when the Yankees offered a spring-training invite, so in order to sign off here, a promise of playing time may have been in the works. Since he is a better defensive option than Thames in every sense of the word, Jones may also get some late-inning burn to add up his PA appearances to 300+.
For what its worth, Thames had just a little above 240 PAs last year.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
HAHA, that’s true! I forgot about that.
Finally a thread that does not degenerate in to Cashman’s incompetent / Cashman’s doing the best he can. This is a solid signing for pretty much ideal 4th OF player. Just make sure he and Joba don’t hit the buffet at the same time.
Brent wrote:
He may have thought that a NRI was a slap in the face.
MJ Recanati wrote:
And not as talented.
Considerably less talented with the lumber.
Considerably more talented everywhere else.
GDH wrote:
LOL
So true though. I assume the Yanks will spend an extra $200/week just to feed those two dudes. It probably takes Joba five bacon double cheeseburgers to feel like he’s had enough appetizers to move onto the main course.
I always wondered whether Jones was actually only 33. He had such a steep Carlos Baerga-like decline at “age 30″. I know in the post 9-11 era, some players were “outed” as being older when their birth certificates were mandatory for clearance.
Of course there’s always the “other” theory for his decline as well.
Jones was lazy and got fat. It’s as simple as that. Sure, I can’t rule out other things, but steroids are only helpful if you work out- they allow you to work out more often and harder. Doesn’t sound like something he’d be interested in.
It’s funny, but the comparisons to Manny don’t hold because by all accounts Manny is a hard worker. There’s a theory that out there that he’s some kind of an idiot savant, but from what I’ve heard, he works his tail off- at least on his hitting.
JeremyM wrote:
Well, I would agree with one of those adjectives …
Don’t like the signing. Nor do I like Feliciano or Soriano. Just a hunch, but similar production could be had at a much lower cost. Wastes of money.
nwyank wrote:
You think the Yankees could’ve signed a solid average defensive outfielder that can also carry the stick a little bit for less than $2M in base compensation with a chance at $3.2M? Really?