Interesting Take on Andruw Jones and Ned Colletti
By SportsHubLA | In the Blogs..., Los Angeles Dodgers
While most Dodger fans are trying to figure out where Andruw Jones fits in the Worst Signing Ever pantheon- in 33 more at bats, Jones has six fewer RBIs than noted run producer Juan Pierre- over at TrueBlueLA, site host Andrew isn’t upset. Well, he’s upset at Jones, but not at GM Ned Colletti for bringing him in, and has an interesting spin on the signing:
Jones was coming off a coming off a season where he made Juan Pierre look like an offensive force, so the typical Ned thing to do would be ignore Jones, then beg Torii Hunter to come play for us. Instead, Ned took a risk. Ned took the guy that had a suppressed value in the market, but had the potential to be good anyway. This was the first time he did something like this with someone that you weren’t sure was going to get hurt immediately. It was good, it was the type of move that good GMs make to get a leg up on the competition.
This is why I can’t get upset, even if Jones fails miserably. It’s what I’ve wanted the whole time that Ned has steered the ship. Will it suck if Jones keeps flailing away for the next two years like he did this April? Of course. But for the low, low cost of only money, the Dodgers got a chance to get a very good player without being stuck in a potentially ruinous financial situation. I would much rather we get Jones, and see him fail that pick up some “safe” option, like, well, Juan Pierre.
Even if Jones never finds success, he’ll still probably be better than Juan Pierre thanks to his defensive prowess, so it will be hard to say this deal was a total loss. Even if Jones never figures it out (and it’s way too soon to say he won’t) picking up Andruw Jones was a good move by Ned, regardless of the end result.
With Jones continuing to flounder (the Dodgers are up 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth in Colorado… Jones is 0-3 with three Ks), I wonder how many people agree with him, but it’s an interesting spin on Jones, Colletti, and free agency in general.
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I always felt that in 2007 the Dodgers should have kept Kenny Lofton to play CF for one more season and just put bot Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier on the corners and let them get a full season under their belts. That way for 2008 they could have gone for a 3 year contract offer to Torii Hunter, or if he refused their offer, they could have moved Kemp to CF and put Delywn young in LF and Ethier in RF. I love young talented players of great potential who are relatively cheap and hungry for success. Arizona and Colorado showed the way last year. The scenario that I mentioned would have spared LA the hideous Juan Pierre contract, the Gonzo sulkiness, and would have told the LA fans “Think of 2007 as we were in 1973 with the Garvey, Cey, Lopes, Russell, Buckner, Ferguson, Yeager kids all playing together, OK we may not win in 2007 just like we fell short in 1973 but we are set up beautifully for 2008 and beyond with Kemp, Ethier, Loney, Delwyn Young, Russell Martin, Andy LaRoche Tony Abreu, Clayton Kershaw, Meloan, McDonald, etc”. The fans accept rebuilding if it will lead to a good young team down the road - Plaschke, Simers, and Lasorda would not - too bad!
I agree with Andrew. I was all for the Jones signing as I was for the Pierre signing. I like the fact that Ned is trying to improve the team instead of sitting still and waiting on the youngsters. The fact that Jones is not panning out is somewhat irrelevant (given it’s only been a month?! and because of what AK said) The contract is for two years and it only cost money, which the Dodgers easily make up. I’ve seen dividends on the defensive end of the signing that most fans seem to overlook a lot. I really didn’t like the 2007 Dodgers defense w/ Pierre in center. Jones brings it all together and I believe there was at least two games so far that a great defensive play or a rundown of a deep drive that would of been missed last year but caught this year gave the Dodgers the win. Fans are so offensive minded that the don’t realize that good pitching, needs good defense and pitching and defense wins as many games as a great offense.
I thought this signing was poor choice. I live in Georgia and have had the great privilege of watching Andrew Jones grow in weight and shrink in popularity. The man has some of the best instincts to play the game but absolutely no desire. He gets a great jump on fly balls, and fields the ones to which he is able to get but I haven’t seen him really lay out for a ball since he was young and hungry. Andrew Jones is on the fast track to nowhere and it truly makes me sad. To see someone with that much ability fail that miserably. I have his rookie card too. You can barely recognize it’s him what with his being in shape and all.