Andruw Jones

ht gold gloves leave him behind only Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente (each with 12) and Al Kaline, Andruw Jones and Ken Griffey Jr. (10 each) among outfielders. (Other outfielders with eight Gold Gloves are Jim Edmonds, Paul Blair, Dwight Evans, Garry Maddox, and Barry Bonds.)  Alomar, however, captured 10 Gold Gloves and had better overall offensive numbers (batting average – .300 to .279, runs – 1,508 to 1,373, and stolen bases – 474 to 314) despite playing a more defensive-minded position.  Not having watched The Hawk in his prime, I may be a bit biased, but all in all, Alomar’s stats put him in a class of ballplayer high above that of Andre Dawson.  Roberto Alomar will almost certainly gain election to The Hall next year, but in my view, if the writers wanted to send just one player from this year’s class to Cooperstown, they chose the wrong one.

Continue reading "The Big Unit hangs ‘em up"

As ridiculous as A-Rod’s salary is, Andruw Jones has to be the most overpaid player in the game.  He used to be an outstanding center fielder and a pretty good power hitter, but those days have long since passed.  Hitting an absolutely paltry .161 with a .261 OBP and a .254 slugging percentage, Jones doesn’t deserve to be in the majors right now, let alone a $36.2 million contract for this year and next.  But while Jones surely is not worthy of praise, the Dodgers deserve most of the blame here.  What business did they have giving MVP-type money to a guy who has hit .300 just once in his career (.303 back in 2000 and whose highest batting average in any other season was .277) and whose offensive numbers fell to .222/.311/.413 last season?  Even ignoring the fact that they already had a slick-fielding center fielder in Juan Pierre, it was a downright awful signing.  With new Dodger Manny Ramirez in left, Matt Kemp in center, and Andre Ethier in right, neither Jones (DL) nor Pierre (relegated to the bench) is playing much at all.

Continue reading "The most overpaid player in baseball"

Losing Andruw Jones and then Juan Pierre has meant more playing time for their young hotshots Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, something Torre was either unwilling or unable to do, perhaps because he was stuck by the same “play the most who you pay the most” philosophy that has plagued the Mariners.

Continue reading "Crowded Outfield—No More!"

y will be one of the teams right there at the end battling for a berth.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Can Andruw Jones rebound this season and return to his pre-2007 self?

Last season the Dodgers ranked 10th in the National League in runs scored, 13th in slugging percentage and 15th in home runs. Their lineup will be vastly different from opening day last year as they are implementing a number of young prospects who are expected to revitalize the offense lead by first baseman James Loney, rightfielder Matt Kemp and third baseman Andy Laroche. However, without any of these players having played an entire Major League season, it is unknown if they’ll be able to generate consistent offense over 162 games.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Preview Part One: National League West"