Adam Jones Is Still Ready For The Majors
Coming into today’s game, Adam Jones was hitting .317/.392/.581, in large part due to his surge since the calendar changed to May and he got over the wrist problem that sapped his power in April. Tonight, he continued his torrid June pace, going 4 for 5 with another home run.
Since May 1st, Jones is 56 for 163 with 14 home runs. That’s a .344/.420/.700 line.
.344/.420/.700. 27 of his 56 hits have gone for extra bases. Did I mention that he’s turned himself into a pretty good defensive outfielder? And he can run? Or that he has the best outfield arm in the organization?
He’s better than Raul Ibanez, Jose Guillen, Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson, and Ben Broussard. Better than all of them. If the Mariners are serious about making the playoffs, Adam Jones should be on the 25 man roster. Getting him into the line-up isn’t going to be easy for Mike Hargrove, but he’s not paid to do an easy job, and the Mariners can’t let the 4th or 5th best hitter in the organization sit in Tacoma for much longer.
It’s time for Adam Jones to be a Seattle Mariner.
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And, in the interest of equal time, Jeff Clement is on fire as well, hitting two more doubles and another homer tonight. He’s completely turned around his season in the last four weeks, driving the ball with authority and reminding people why he was the 3rd pick in the draft.
He’s not likely to contribute to the team this year, but it’s still nice to see Clement succeeding in Triple-A.
But can he pitch?
They could get a short look by putting Jose Lopez on the bereavement list so he can go visit his family (though it seems like they want him to continue playing) and playing Vidro at second. Not an ideal way to get Jones into the lineup, but it might be the only way to get Hargrove to give him a few starts in a row right away and hopefully build from there.
I suspect that whatever upgrades could be gained from Lopez’ bat -> Jones’ bat would be totally negated by the downside of Lopez’ glove -> Vidro’s ‘glove’.
Better yet, try to trade Vidro for whatever you can get for him. Then bring up Jones to play LF and move Ibanez to DH.
Dave – the obvious question is how? I know you’ve gone over this before – the way the roster is constructed makes it difficult to get Jones in the lineup w/o an injury to an OF or Vidro. Ibanez isn’t going anywhere, Ichiro obviously isn’t and I don’t think another org is stupid enough to take Vidro. Guillen is the most obvious trade candidate to clear room. Think there are any teams that want/need him? Twins? Mets?
I feel bad for Adam Jones. Obviously he’s handling himself well on the field. Any idea how he’s doing otherwise? He must be getting anxious…
Chief has the answer. Do the M’s have the guts to make it happen?
[deleted, off topic]
Dave,
If we called up Adam Jones, would you bet that he initially falters a bit as he gets used to big league pitching? Cause I would, but based mostly on instinct. I’m wondering if you feel the same way.
Re:#6
Trading Guillen would be silly. Jones could likely expect to perform just a bit better than Jose, and the benefit of promoting Jones would be off-set unless we got an arm that could help us NOW.
I’d rather just excise Vidro, but the FO is too stupid to do that. It’s funny, though, because now that we’re in a position to actually make some divisional noise, the FO will play it conservatively and not get rid of the excess crappiness on the team like they’ve been so quick to do in the past few seasons. Yes, I’m sure we’ll find a suitable replacement for Weaver, but beyond that, Vidro and Horacio represent serious holes in our line-up and rotation, respectively, and for a GM who has simply released players in the past that were not performing, Bavasi will probably play it WAYYY too close to the vest on these guys because he (wrongly) believes in them for some reason.
Grrr… it sure will be interesting to see how Bavasi screws all this up later this year.
Okay, hypothetical scenario. You’re the Mariners. You need to make a move to get Adam Jones on the roster in the next 24 hours. It has to be a realistic, right-away move, no silly trades off the top of your head, and keep in mind the reaction of the fanbase and media to any corresponding move you make, i.e. sure you can punt Vidro, but how do you put over punting the .290 hitter (yes, we know better, but still) with the general public and media?
Which move do you make?
I suggested this in the earlier thread where Dave gave his minor league translations, but it might not hurt for people to write letters to the Times and PI sports section on this (I just sent one a couple days ago)–If they print them it builds at least a tiny bit of public pressure in the same way that letters on an issue build a little pressure on elected officials.
I put Jason Ellison on the DL with a strained quad. Piece of cake, time bought.
You trade one of four players Sexson, Vidro, or Guillen preferably Sexson….And you use what ever you get to go after a pitcher…Don’t want to go into any specific proposals to rosterbate but it could be done.
re: #11
I think it’s tough to set a 24-hour time limit on something like that, no? You want to get a solid return on any trade you make, and pushing for something within a slim time frame is almost always a recipe for disaster.
In the interim, I’d be pushing for deals with teams that match-up trade-wise. Jeff Clement for Andrew Sonnanstine or Jeff Niemann? Clement and Wlad for David Bush? Wlad for Scott Baker (as Dave has already posited)? Clement for Scott Olsen?
I’m not trying to make this into a trade speculation thread, but there are certainly other things we should be doing than simply to hope Bavasi somehow comes to his senses and benches Vidro for Adam Jones. I wish like heck that it would happen, but I just don’t see it. So I’m simply laying out ideas that SHOULD happen and that have a slim chance rather than almost none at all. With Clement heating up, I say we get all we possibly can for him in terms of young pitching. Seemingly either the Marlins or Devil Rays would be awesome matches as they both need catchers and have pitching to spare.
Turbo sucks
Here’s to hoping Bavasi can surprise me and do something that isn’t ridiculously crappy in the next month or two.
Derek – sure, it buys time. But for what? So Jones can take his place on the bench, play RF in the 9th inning of close games and hit once a week against relievers? If Jones comes up, he needs to start. There’s no point in calling him up to have Grover bench him for two weeks…
Until the current offense isn’t working….you’re simply wasting your time trying to second guess the organization.
What are you going to argue? “Well, we needed to make a change because we aren’t winning?” A pretty tough sell, at the moment.
BTW….Ibanez has made it clear in the past, that he doesn’t want to DH. You can force him…..but I don’t think you want to upset the apple cart right now. Again, it’s gonna be pretty hard to sell to the team veterans that even though you’re winning…..we aren’t happy.
Jones is good….but he’s no ARod or Griffey good…….so, I wouldn’t expect the players to jump for joy over setting a well regarded veteran for a rookie. This isn’t roto baseball where you simply plug in new numbers. There are emotions and superstition to deal with……..in a highly superstitious sport.
And, yes, I realize it was tongue-in-cheek – but I’m in no mood. The M’s just piss me off. Why did we need Vidro? WHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYY? If we didn’t make that trade, Ibanez could be our DH, Snelling could be on our DL and Adam Jones could be our left fielder (oh and Fruto could have a 2.51 ERA for the Rainiers -as a starter- instead of the Columbus Clippers). The team would be better with money to play with at the deadline…
Defensively, how much better is Jones over Raul?
You left someone of your list. Yes, I’d rather have Adam Jones in our outfield than Ibanez, Jose Guillen, Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson, or Ben Broussard, but I’d want him in our outfield ahead of one more Mariner outfielder. The Mariners need to trade Ichiro to open up a spot for Adam Jones. Ichiro is so so so mediocre. On a scale from one to ten, I give Ichiro a six on offense. He gets a ten on defense, so his overall score is a little higher than six, but I’d put Jones out there ahead of him in a second.
He’s not likely to contribute to the team this year, but it’s still nice to see Clement succeeding in Triple-A.
I HAVE to ask, Dave, because I think I asked it before on a thread that got buried, but was the May scouting report that soured you and others on Jeff Clement wrong? Was his bat really slow in May, after the reports said he was stinging the ball everywhere in April but not finding holes? And, if so, has it sped back up again or is this more a result of he (and others, Jones included) playing in some favorable hitters parks recently?
I’m just curious. When the May Future Forty report came out and Jeff Clement sounded like he was nearly done as a hot prospect, I was incredibly shocked and disheartened and totally in denial. I just want to know if things have changed or not.
As for the “plan”, this team is stupidly put together. We continue to lament the acquisition of Jose Vidro because it was unnecessary then, and it’s now a hinderance on getting our best prospect up into the show to help the team. The easiest solution is putting Ibanez at DH and putting Jones in LF, and hope Vidro goes away. But that can’t happen.
Another option is to deal Sexson somewhere, put Ibanez at first, and put Jones out there somewhere.
We do have to remember we’re dealing with Mike Hargrove here, and Bavasi has said he wont question what Hargrove does with what is given him. So putting Adam Jones on the roster might be a moot point, since he’d probably ride pine anyhow while Ibanez stays in left and Vidro DHes
I might be wrong, but doesn’t Ibanez suck out loud at first base? Not saying I don’t think your idea is a good one. Honestly, it’s something that’s occurred to me before (especially with the first basemanless Yankees heating up and George Steinbrenner complaining that Cashman has been too concerned with the future when he should be concentrating on the present), but I’m pretty sure that is the case. Also, if the Mariners traded Sexson they’d probably just play Broussard at first base. We really have more hitters than we need.
hmm…. Ichiro’s offense 6 out of 10? That’s new. Are you considering the fact that he is a CF? You could argue he is worth only 7 out of 10 due to his lack of power, etc. but…. 6? (maybe I am just biased cuz I saw him get tons of clutch hits these past few days)
Anyhow, trading Ichiro and putting Jones in CF would have been an option if they were out of the playoff race, but unless they go through another 11 game losing streak I doubt it will happen (and it shouldn’t)
Raul should be DH, Jones should be in Left, and Vidro should be on the bench with Bloomquist bitching about not starting. As for the roster, Hargrove you don’t need 12 pitchers! Well recently you could make an argument for 12 but still…
19. Ichiro is mediocre? Wow. .340/.394/.457 for a CF is top tier.
Adding Jones is probably more about improving the M’s defensively. Raul has been terrible in LF so whether he likes it or not, he needs to be at DH at this point in his career.
Vidro doesn’t suck. He would just be better as a nice switching hitting bat off the bench than as the DH.
Seems realistic that Jones could produce similar numbers to say Ryan Zimmerman as a 21yr old .287/.351/.471 which would be better than the M’s are likely to get from Vidro.
But this discussion is all academic. Given Bavasi’s style, he won’t be willing to shake things up while they are winning. So unless we see some offensive faltering we are likely stuck with status quo as it relates to position players.
And to think he turns just 22 in a month and a half.
Adam Jones, the next Seattle superstar.
#25
Exactly. The “If ain’t broke, don’t fix” way of thinking will definitely be there for a while.
Getting rid of Vidro and installing Jones in the line-up makes us EXTREMELY right-handed. If Vidro is benched/traded/cut then you have to also find a way to get Broussard in the line-up on a daily basis to have some kind of balance. The ideal situation is getting rid of both Vidro and Sexson – the problem is neither one of those players is particularly attractive to other teams – and that’s putting it nicely.
Adam has been a perplexing case study into Bavasi’s player development philosophy. Bavasi believes in rapid promotion to set a player up for failure but seems hesitant to pull the trigger when a player has nothing left to prove. I know this is a case where Bavasi’s motivation to “win now” basically created a 25 man roster that had no room for the possibility that his player development philosophy would work so well with Adam. But does Bavasi truly believe in his philosophy or not?
If we called up Adam Jones, would you bet that he initially falters a bit as he gets used to big league pitching? Cause I would, but based mostly on instinct. I’m wondering if you feel the same way.
I think his possible performances range from Chris Young’s .250/.280/.430 to Ryan Braun’s .300/.350/.560. I’d peg him at .270/.330/.450 as a median, but there’s room for more and less.
Dave – the obvious question is how?
Derek’s right – the short term answer is to DL Ellison, call up Jones, and give him some time in all three outfield spots over the next two weeks. He gives Guillen a couple days off per week against RHP, plays over Ibanez against LHP, and over Turbo when they get back to AL parks.
You could get him 4-5 starts a week without taking anyone’s job away. Hargrove would have to manage the egos in the clubhouse, especially Guillen’s, but that’s his job.
If Jones comes up and tears the cover off the ball, it’s a lot easier to keep playing him everyday, as even veterans aren’t going to want the kid who is winning them games sitting on the bench. If he struggles to hit a breaking ball, you re-activate Ellison in two weeks and let Jones go hang out in Tacoma again.
There are no perfect answers, because this roster is poorly constructed. But the challenges of the guys on the team should not be enough to keep a player like Adam Jones off the team.
#29:
Adam has been a perplexing case study into Bavasi’s player development philosophy. Bavasi believes in rapid promotion to set a player up for failure but seems hesitant to pull the trigger when a player has nothing left to prove. I know this is a case where Bavasi’s motivation to “win now” basically created a 25 man roster that had no room for the possibility that his player development philosophy would work so well with Adam. But does Bavasi truly believe in his philosophy or not?
Quoth Bavasi
D’oh.
And it’s not like this would be a bad thing…this keeps your regulars fresh for the stretch run and gives you good options for the bench.
Of course, this runs counter to Grover’s grind-your-regulars-into-the-ground approach to management…
I HAVE to ask, Dave, because I think I asked it before on a thread that got buried, but was the May scouting report that soured you and others on Jeff Clement wrong?
I don’t believe the scouting report was wrong, no. Not in the sense that Clement didn’t actually have a slow bat in May and look like a non-prospect who just lost the ability to hit.
But, it probably is a reminder of why scouting is an inexact science. Of course, we also need to remember that Clement turns 24 shortly and really should be tearing the cover off the ball in the PCL.
If Adam Jones was left handed, he’d be up. The problem is the extreme right-handedness of this line-up. You can’t take a left handed bat out of the line-up for Adam Jones. This means the only way is to move/sit either Sexson or Guillen. I don’t see either happening. Adam Jones is going to be in Tacoma until September.
Jones only played last year for a month. If the M’s wait until September call-ups, promote him and then he play regularly next year, when does his service time begin? Are they delaying his call-up to extend his free agency year for another year in the future?
Jones can’t go back to playing SS can he? I kid, I kid.
do you have Curto announce it?
Ellison is obviously the weakest link, and highly expendable, but getting rid of him proves Bavasi’s offseason move to get him to be wrong so i won’t hold my breath.
barring an injury my guess is we don’t see him until September. they can use the excuse that:
- the team is winning
- what, we need MORE offense?
- sitting on the bench will hinder his development, so he should keep grinding away in AAA
Ellison was not a bad acquistion. It was better to have him as the 4th OF and let Jones and Reed play everyday. Now that Jones is ready, it is time to let Ellison go. Maybe he can catch whatever Weaver had or HoRam has.
The whole point there, though, is that you can have Jones up and play him almost every day. I’d agree, that my ideal outfield is Jones-Ichiro-Guillen, with Ellison as the backup, but then you’ve got to figure out where Ibanez goes, and that’s a whole other issue.
i cry more for the jones glove than his bat right now…raul is getting hot with the bat, but his fielding is an eye-sore…
I’m thinking along the same lines as 37…Yuni can’t throw and is costing us games out there. Let Jones play SS and get Betancourt to Tacoma to learn to throw again. Hell, see of Jones can play 3B while Beltre is out…his downside with the glove there can’t possibly be more detrimental than his upgrade over Willie at the plate.
Thaaaaaaaaat’s a little crazy.
Jones isn’t a shortstop. He never was.
Ellison shouldn’t be the backup, btw. Reed is mashing RH hitting, so having a LH 4th outfielder that can play all 3 positions and platoon more than adequately against RH pitching is a much better fit for the bench.
yuni will be fine…
yeah, ellison was nice while reed and jones got it together, but they have, and both should be up…jones in left and reed on the bench…send ellison with broussard and whomever else to the sox for buerle…i drool over the idea of him with the king, wash, batista, and baek…
45 – In the literal sense or in the same way that Raul isn’t a Left Fielder? In my recollection he was moved to OF from SS in 05.
44 – Yes, it is. But which lineup is better? Ichiro/Lopez/Guillen/Ibanez/Sexson/Johjima/Lopez/Betancourt/Bloomquist or
Ichiro/Lopez/Guillen/Ibanez/Sexson/Johjima/Jones/Lopez/Betancourt? And is lineup 2 going to score more runs than lineup 1, such that the defensive impact at 3B would be mitigated or overwhelmed? I think so.
I’m not saying I’d do this, but somebody asked for a way to get him into the lineup in 24 hours and that would do it…beltre to DL, bloomquist to the bench, jones at 3B.
The whole RH/LH argument against Jones is ludicrous. It isn’t an invalid point that the M’s are RH heavy, but they aren’t conversely LH strong. If you don’t think that Jones from the RH side of the plate couldn’t outhit Vidro from the LH side of the plate, then….welll…..
Who cares if it makes the M’s MORE righthanded? It will makes the M’s better. Period. End of Discussion. Finito. Konetz.
Jones isn’t an infielder.
He’s 21, in AAA, playing in one of the toughest hitters parks in the league (and according to a recent BP article, one of the toughest places to hit in all the minors), and showing real improvement in the field and in his triple-slash line. However, his K/AB and K/BB rate has stayed the same the last three years (and this year even shows a tad bit of regression, albeit very slight). His develpoment is legit, but I’m still not convinced he’s all the way there yet.
Gary Sheffield used to play short, can we go get him and put him there every day?
it’s ridiculous to try and put him back in the infield…he was only a shortstop because he was always the best athlete on his team and you put the best athlete at short…he should be STARTING everyday for raul in LEFT and raul should DH…
Lopez & Yuni could switch for a few games… Lopez was a HOT MINOR LEAGUE PROSPECT at SS. If the throwing doesn’t improve, that’s a better option.
Gary Sheffield used to play short? Really?
That would’ve been almost as funny as watching Sexson try to bunt, as was talked about in another thread.
I’m not ready to punt on Betancourt yet at all, and I think Jones was only put at shortstop early in his development because that’s often a default position for the best athlete on the team at lower levels.
It’s like saying “well, put him at catcher!” Sure, it gets his bat into the lineup, but he’s going to be a butcher there defensively and it will offset part of the value he brings to the team.
It’s time for the Mariners to leverage their cozy relationship with the Seattle sports media, for once. Get them to start writing about how empty Turbo’s average is, so fans will start calling into KJR to complain about him and start the dominos falling.
Then get them to start writing about how there’s this great kid in AAA that can help the team make the playoffs…
Then, tell Ibanez he’s going to DH whether he likes it or not, and make your moves from there. He’s never really struck me as the type of player that would kvetch to the media endlessly about not playing where he’d like to play, and he has to realize that he’s going to need to move to DH eventually if he wants to continue his career.
Also cut Bloomquist, just for fun.
RE: Coffee says 29 and What 50 says What is the righty lefty thing have do with these numbers.
Adam Jones
vs Left .333 .378 .623 1.002
vs Right .324 .407 .588 .995
57- I’ll take those numbers…bring the kid up!
This is all well and good, but also has no chance of happening. Sure, the best thing for the team would be to call up Jones and give sub him in for Guillen, Ibanez, Vidro, etc., but such a strategy is completely outside of Mike Hargrove’s managerial style. He won’t go for anything more creative than a simple platoon (”not a platoon”), especially for a rookie. There is simply no way Jones will get regularly into the starting lineup barring an injury or Vidro’s batting average falling off the table.
Gary Sheffield used to play short, can we go get him and put him there every day?
To be fair, it did work for Troy Glaus a bit last year. If he’d started a couple more games he would have qualified as a shortstop in most fantasy leagues.
vidro’s average could fall off the table…in fact, it’s already on the way…
To be fair, it did work for Troy Glaus a bit last year. If he’d started a couple more games he would have qualified as a shortstop in most fantasy leagues.
The caveat being that it “worked” in the sense that he did not make a fool of himself out there. But his range was almost nil and that counts for something. Also, the Jays alternative at SS were all far inferior to Yuni in most respects.
I’m not disagreeing that Jones is best suited as an outfielder. I’m jsut saying that he’d probably be so much of an upgrade over WFB at the plate, that whatever negative value he has at 3B would be clearly overwhelmed. He has a great arm so the throws should be no problem, and he’s quick enough that range shouldn’t be an issue. You play him there for the 10 games or so that Beltre is out, and if he tears it up at the plate you now have a great reason to ditch Vidro and stick Jones in LF/Ibanez at DH. Really, where is the negative for the team?
Then I submit that’s all the more reason to bring him up. If his K rate isn’t changing all that much over the past few years, then he’s not going to change it that much with another couple months in Tacoma.
is beltre out?
Yes. Come on.
Jim Thome was originally drafted as a shortstop – maybe the Mariners should try to get him to replace Yuni.
Just going to throw this out as a possiblity.
An injured Beltre isn’t going to help us down the stretch. The team needs to get him right, so placing him on the DL to get his thumb in shape is probably smart right now. Placing him on the DL allows room for Jones to get called up.
While playing in NL parks, use a combination of Lopez/Bloomy at 3B or Lopez/Bloomy/Vidro at 2B with Ibanez in LF. Use AJ in RF and LF as a defensive replacement and to give Ibanez and Guillen a day off (Ichrio doesn’t take days off). When the team returns to AL parks, AJ plays LF, Ibanez DH’s and the team utilizes the same rotation at 2B and 3B until Beltre returns. Also allows the team to assess AJ’s true value and subsequently find room for him.
And just to get ready for the barrage of tomatoes and trash being thrown my way, I too hate the idea of Vidro playing the field, but the M’s are thin at backup IF right now (with Morse hurt) and might as well go with what you got and make it work.
is beltre on the DL?
Not yet…they keep hoping his thumb will heal with 3-5 days rest, but they’ve done it twice now with no success.
63 – you’re asking for a disaster. Moving the kid to third (a position he’s never played for any length of time) at 21 years old while simultaneously promoting him into the big leagues is almost assuredly going to fail. Anyone changing positions like that is likely to struggle with the throw. That’s a struggle you want him to have in Tacoma where the pressure is minimal and the media glare is non existent. If he struggles like that in Seattle it’s very likely the pressure could affect his hitting and set him back a few weeks.
Besides, he’s still just learning the OF – no need to set back his progress in the field.
This thread reads an awful lot like the PI blog. Trade Vidro? Jones at 3B? Making medical diagnoses of Beltre from in front of your computer? Get a grip, people.
That is some severe chastisement right there.
OK, now you’re making fun of me.
http://ussmariner.com/2007/05/18/the-inconsistent-offense/
Adam Jones was a pitcher in high school, so there might be another way to get him into the lineup every fifth day. (Plus, on those days, the M’s could use the DH to bat in Bloomquist’s place).
I’m sure Hargrove isn’t particularly interested in another kid coming up, regardless of his recent record in the minors, particularly since he was up last summer and didn’t hit much. If Bavasi finds a way to Jones in the dugout, he’ll just molder on the bench. Hargrove never wants kids, he wants veterans. He says now he wanted Manny up from the minors in Cleveland but msb went back and found news accounts from the time in which Hargrove is quoted saying he didn’t want the kid. (I assume that’s just normal self-delusion, distorting your memory to make yourself look good in retrospect, but it’s possible he conciously denies facts that don’t support his worldview; or perhaps he’s just being insultingly disingenuous with Seattle “journalists” he knows won’t check facts, I don’t know).
Simple,
DL Ellison.
Raul to DH
Jones to LF
Vidro to 3B while Beltre is out, could he be any worse than Willie?
You haven’t benched any “veteran starters” yet, Hope that when Beltre comes back Vidro forgets he used to be a starter (Ok that part is a joke)
Seriously would any team other than the Ms be even debating this with things like Vidro’s feelings being a factor?
Vidro at third… are you mad? Seriously? He’s slow, creaky, and he doesn’t have the arm for it. Opposing teams could bunt at him for singles all game long. There’s no way you get away with that for long.
I don’t believe the scouting report was wrong, no. Not in the sense that Clement didn’t actually have a slow bat in May and look like a non-prospect who just lost the ability to hit.
I think this is the answer I was hoping for.
But, it probably is a reminder of why scouting is an inexact science. Of course, we also need to remember that Clement turns 24 shortly and really should be tearing the cover off the ball in the PCL.
He did lose some development time due to injury, but this is very correct. He tore the cover off the ball in April, but had some bad luck. He had a horrible May, and with his unlucky April it looked really bad. Now he’s back to tearing the cover off the ball, and this time finding holes. I’m not saying he’s ready, but it seems he’s back on the right track.
I do think that, come what may, if he’s not ready by 2008, then we have to consider his value fallen. He’ll still be useful, even if he only turns into a DH / 1B, he’s still a left handed power hitter that we need. But potential All-Star might be beyond our reality.
DMZ,
Yeah mostly I was joking to show the absurdity of the situation.
Any sane team moves Vidro to PH duties, Ibanez to DH (preferably platooned with someone who can hit LHers) Jones to LF, lives with Willie at 3B until Beltre is healthy and doesn’t give a rip about Vidro’s Veteran entitlement.
(exhaling)
That’s good.
I find the whole situation difficult to root for Jones’ promotion. At this point, if Jones is to be brought up it has to be as an OFer and/or DH. In my estimation what it would take to get Jones brought up is a serious injury to Ibanez, Ichiro or Guillen (or trade of one of the 4). If Vidro got injured I truly believe it’d be Broussard that Hargrove chose to get the playing time at DH (or first, giving Sexson a break from his defensive responsibilities in hopes his bat comes around more at DH.)
#46 I don’t think Hargrove has changed his mind about not putting Reed in the lineup. He did tell Bavasi that if Reed was on the 25 he’d get very few AB’s. I suppose that’s a part of being the 4th OFer, but Ellison seems to have more of Hargroves faith.
I don’t see an answer to who should play third while Beltre’s out that promises better (unfortunately.) The poeple who’ve been talked about moving would be focused more on thier defense at a new position and most likely have trouble putting up the same offensive numbers. Then there’s the difficulty they’d probably have defensively at the position, especially the absurd notion of moving Betancourt further from first to ease his throwing problem…Haven’t heard any discussions of promoting a 3Bman though, which makes more sense than trying people at new positions…
81, what is this horrible May you keep referencing in regards to Clement? Jeff hit .267/.350/.489 in May, which may be a notch below expectations, but is far from horrible.
He was ghastly in April. If, as you say, he was simply unlucky, then he’s having one heck of a season, because his May was not bad, and his June has been otherworldly (if not quite as otherworldly as Adam Majorleagueready Jones).
I wonder what Jim Presley and Darnell Coles are thinking as they read this post????????
I think everyone has missed the obvious solution here:
Send Hargrove to the DL (or better yet, DFA). With McLaren at the helm, Dave’s plan as expressed in #31 has a chance of being implemented.
debaser Says:
He’s 21, in AAA, playing in one of the toughest hitters parks in the league (and according to a recent BP article, one of the toughest places to hit in all the minors), and showing real improvement in the field and in his triple-slash line. However, his K/AB and K/BB rate has stayed the same the last three years (and this year even shows a tad bit of regression, albeit very slight). His develpoment is legit, but I’m still not convinced he’s all the way there yet.
He probably won’t be all the way there yet for 5-6 years. Most players don’t reach their peak level of play till there in their mid to late 20’s.
He’s alot closer to “all the way there” than Vidro…
…Offensively and Ibanez defensively