Dodgers officially cut ties with Andruw Jones ..Braves interested in Jones and Glavine
bman90278
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As a baseball fan, I really hated to see Andruw Jones go downhill so badly last year. Joe Torre had always made it clear last season he didn't make the lineups based on salaries and Jones knew 2009 would be a very bad year for his career if he was on the bench again. As a Dodger fan I'm very happy to see they will move him somewhere and I hope he's able to find a good home and get back on track again.
Now the question of the day....Who wants Jones on their team and who do u think will take him???
The latest
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From Dodgers website.
Dodgers cut ties with Jones
Team releases outfielder after efforts to work a trade prove fruitless
LOS ANGELES -- Barely one year after making Andruw Jones the highest-paid player in franchise history, the Dodgers released him.
Concluding one of the most stunning yet inexplicable collapses in Major League history, Jones was given his release Thursday in exchange for deferring over the next six years about $16 million of the remaining $21.1 million the Dodgers owe on his two-year, $36.2 million free-agent contract.
Jones becomes a free agent. The Dodgers had two weeks to drum up a trade and spoke to at least two clubs this week, but nothing materialized.
In a statement issued by the club, general manager Ned Colletti said efforts to find a trade partner were unsuccessful.
"Obviously this is a disappointing day for both us and Andruw, as we all had high hopes for him when he signed last year given his track record and everything that we had seen from him in the past and heard about him," said Colletti. "I know that Andruw is also very disappointed in the way things turned out and the best thing to do at this point is to turn the page and we wish him well."
Now if Jones finds another job, the signing club will be responsible for only the Major League minimum salary offset ($400,000), with the Dodgers paying the rest. Speculation has centered on Jones returning to his original team, the Braves. Jones has been working out recently with former Braves teammates at Turner Field.
But MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that the Braves' interest is tepid and, at best, Jones would have to sign a Minor League contract and win a job in Spring Training.
Such a scenario was unthinkable even a year ago, when the Dodgers believed Jones would be a short-term solution to their lack of production in the middle of the batting order, even though his power numbers with the Braves had dropped from 41 homers and 129 RBIs in 2006 to 26 and 94 in 2007.
The Dodgers would have been pleased with a repeat of the 26/94 production, but nobody envisioned where Jones would wind up in 2008 -- a .158 average, three homers, 14 RBIs and one knee surgery.
He was a strikeout machine throughout the season and a disaster from Day One, showing up at training camp noticeably overweight, slow of foot and bat speed. And he compounded his poor play with poorly chosen words about not caring what fans thought about his performance.
Hot Stove
Frustrated and demoralized, Jones left the club in mid-September after being placed on the disabled list for the third time with tendinitis in his right knee, which also underwent arthroscopic surgery in June. Jones had never been on the disabled list his previous 10 seasons.
Jones, 32 in April, is a 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, but the Dodgers saw none of that. He vowed before leaving the club to report to 2009 Spring Training in better shape, but privately he told teammates he did not want to return to the Dodgers.
Scott Boras, Jones' agent, approached the Dodgers with the plan to get Jones a fresh start. Deferring the salary from the back-loaded contract provides the Dodgers with some payroll flexibility that could facilitate the re-signing of another Boras client, Manny Ramirez.
Meanwhile, with Jones out of the picture and Ramirez still a free agent, the Dodgers' tentative starting outfield consists of Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Juan Pierre. Other outfielders on the Major League roster are Jason Repko, Delwyn Young, Xavier Paul and Jamie Hoffman.
Now the question of the day....Who wants Jones on their team and who do u think will take him???
The latest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Dodgers website.
Dodgers cut ties with Jones
Team releases outfielder after efforts to work a trade prove fruitless
LOS ANGELES -- Barely one year after making Andruw Jones the highest-paid player in franchise history, the Dodgers released him.
Concluding one of the most stunning yet inexplicable collapses in Major League history, Jones was given his release Thursday in exchange for deferring over the next six years about $16 million of the remaining $21.1 million the Dodgers owe on his two-year, $36.2 million free-agent contract.
Jones becomes a free agent. The Dodgers had two weeks to drum up a trade and spoke to at least two clubs this week, but nothing materialized.
In a statement issued by the club, general manager Ned Colletti said efforts to find a trade partner were unsuccessful.
"Obviously this is a disappointing day for both us and Andruw, as we all had high hopes for him when he signed last year given his track record and everything that we had seen from him in the past and heard about him," said Colletti. "I know that Andruw is also very disappointed in the way things turned out and the best thing to do at this point is to turn the page and we wish him well."
Now if Jones finds another job, the signing club will be responsible for only the Major League minimum salary offset ($400,000), with the Dodgers paying the rest. Speculation has centered on Jones returning to his original team, the Braves. Jones has been working out recently with former Braves teammates at Turner Field.
But MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that the Braves' interest is tepid and, at best, Jones would have to sign a Minor League contract and win a job in Spring Training.
Such a scenario was unthinkable even a year ago, when the Dodgers believed Jones would be a short-term solution to their lack of production in the middle of the batting order, even though his power numbers with the Braves had dropped from 41 homers and 129 RBIs in 2006 to 26 and 94 in 2007.
The Dodgers would have been pleased with a repeat of the 26/94 production, but nobody envisioned where Jones would wind up in 2008 -- a .158 average, three homers, 14 RBIs and one knee surgery.
He was a strikeout machine throughout the season and a disaster from Day One, showing up at training camp noticeably overweight, slow of foot and bat speed. And he compounded his poor play with poorly chosen words about not caring what fans thought about his performance.
Hot Stove
Frustrated and demoralized, Jones left the club in mid-September after being placed on the disabled list for the third time with tendinitis in his right knee, which also underwent arthroscopic surgery in June. Jones had never been on the disabled list his previous 10 seasons.
Jones, 32 in April, is a 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, but the Dodgers saw none of that. He vowed before leaving the club to report to 2009 Spring Training in better shape, but privately he told teammates he did not want to return to the Dodgers.
Scott Boras, Jones' agent, approached the Dodgers with the plan to get Jones a fresh start. Deferring the salary from the back-loaded contract provides the Dodgers with some payroll flexibility that could facilitate the re-signing of another Boras client, Manny Ramirez.
Meanwhile, with Jones out of the picture and Ramirez still a free agent, the Dodgers' tentative starting outfield consists of Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Juan Pierre. Other outfielders on the Major League roster are Jason Repko, Delwyn Young, Xavier Paul and Jamie Hoffman.
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looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
By A.Jones. Shoulda watched Chipper a little harder, there is a guy that can play.
<< <i> Why would anyone want him, did he even break .200 last year. Last I saw he was around .160? He is a pretty obvious case of steroid abuse, anyone that has to do that to play a sport shouldnt even be allowed back. (Bonds) >>
I'm not saying Jones didn't take steriods or enhancements, but they wouldn't have made his average go from sub .200 to .260's. One thing is clear, he showed up to the Dodgers out of shape and never seemed comfortable out here. He also did end up having a minor knee surgery too, but I do remember seeing in articles that it was only part of Jones problems last year.
Club likely to release or trade vet, who may draw Braves' interest (FRom LAdodgers.com)
Though their interest in the veteran outfielder remains minimal, the Braves could opt to bring back Andruw Jones if he's released by the Dodgers later this month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in its Monday editions.
The Dodgers are reportedly trying to trade Jones, and they worked out a deal with his agent, Scott Boras, to defer most of the $22.1 million he has remaining on his two-year, $36.2 million contract.
Jones will earn $5 million this season, which still may be too hefty a price for any team to pay a player who had knee surgery this past season, his first in Los Angeles, and batted .158 with three homers, 14 RBIs, 33 hits and 76 strikeouts in 209 at-bats.
Boras said that the Dodgers will release Jones on Jan. 15 if they can't trade him by then, the newspaper reported.
In that case, any team could sign Jones for the minimum of $400,000 while the Dodgers have to pay the remainder of his contract. If they release him, the Dodgers would have to pay the remainder of that contract in any event.
Jones played for the Braves from 1996 until he became a free agent at the end of the 2007 season. He hit 368 of his 371 homers for Atlanta.
MLB.com reported Sunday that the Braves may have interest in bringing back Jones, but that interest could only be moderate.
Please discuss.
<< <i> If I were LA, I would just keep him and send him to the minors. Let him sit on buses until he quits or does something to earn a suspension to save a few bucks. Do whatever possible to make his existence miserable. That guy is flat out stealing. >>
I totally feel the same way as you do, but the new restructured contract does free up $12,000,000 for the 2009 Dodgers payroll.
Who wants him? He's cheap but comes with extra baggage I guess. I seriously wish him the best and that he's able to get back on track.
<< <i>I thought the Braves were going to give him another chance >>
Why do the Braves always trade/release there players in there prime. Then bring them back when they are at a retiring stage?
Braves eyeing returns for Glavine, Jones
ATLANTA -- The Braves will wait for Tom Glavine to meet with doctors next week before deciding whether to offer a one-year contract, and they are mulling whether to sign Andruw Jones.
Glavine made just 13 starts before season-ending elbow surgery and has not thrown off a mound since. The 305-game winner, who turns 43 in March, went 2-4 with a 5.56 ERA in his next season back with the Braves since 2002.
Jones
Jones
Glavine
Glavine
"Our conversations with Tommy are that once he gets to the next step, and he's going to see the doctor next week, then we'll sit down with him," general manager Frank Wren said Friday.
Jones won 10 Gold Gloves as the Braves' center fielder before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2008 season.
After reporting to spring training overweight, Jones underwent knee surgery in May, and hit a career-low .158 with three homers, 14 RBIs and 76 strikeouts in 209 at-bats. Unable to trade Jones, the Dodgers released him Thursday and owe him $22.1 million.
Atlanta could sign him for the $400,000 minimum.
"I want to discuss it a little more internally to determine which direction we want to go," Wren said.
Atlanta's outfield currently includes right fielder Jeff Francoeur, center fielder Josh Anderson, reserve Gregor Blanco and left fielder Matt Diaz, who agreed Thursday to a one-year contract worth $1,237,500, a deal the Braves announced Friday.
Francoeur filed for arbitration along with closer Mike Gonzalez, first baseman Casey Kotchman, second baseman Kelly Johnson. Players and clubs swap proposed arbitration figures on Tuesday, with hearings set for next month.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
Okay, give him another chance here in Atlanta. Maybe the familiar surroundings and being around Chipper and Bobby again will make him play better. If not, you didn't fork out too much money and he held the outfield spot until the minor league guy is ready.