Archive for Andruw Jones

The Yankees have acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners in exchange for pitching prospects D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. The Mariners are also paying approximately $4.5 million of the $6.7 million remaining on Ichiro’s contract, leaving the Yankees responsible for a fairly modest $2.25 million.

According to Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln, Ichiro had approached the club requesting a trade, reasoning that the Mariners are building for the future and it was best for the team if younger players were given more playing time.

Ichiro has also become a shell of his former self, posting a .289 wOBA last season and a .281 wOBA this year, both of which rank near the league’s bottom. Since the start of last season, only Cliff Pennington, Casey McGehee and Gordon Beckham have produced lower wOBAs. Trading him must have been very difficult, but it was much easier to justify, and downright responsible, from a production standpoint.

While Safeco Field clearly has a hand in his decline, he is simply nowhere near the same player fans are accustomed to seeing. He isn’t an everyday player anymore, but it would have been tough for the Mariners to play him sporadically given his importance to the team and the community. The Yankees don’t need him to be anything more than a part-time platoon player to make this deal work out, and for Ichiro, the realization that his days as a full-time starter are done is likely easier to stomach on a playoff contender.

While it’s somewhat shocking that the Mariners dealt their franchise player — especially since most signs pointed towards his retention next season — what he could potentially provide his new club is rather intriguing. In the appropriate role and under the right circumstances, he could really benefit the Yankees down the stretch.

Simply by not playing the majority of his games at Safeco Field, which has absolutely crushed BABIP and offense in general this season, Ichiro figures to improve his seasonal line. If his numbers at the plate with the Yankees resemble his current road numbers, and his terrific fielding persists, the Yankees won’t think twice about the money they’ll spend or the prospects they dealt. If they just acquired “Road” Ichiro, this is a darned good deal that bolsters depth in an important area.

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The decline of Chone Figgins over the past two seasons is no secret to baseball fans. He produced 1.1 WAR last season after an impressive 6.9-win campaign a year earlier. He also averaged 3.6 wins above replacement in 2007 and 2008, establishing himself as as a patient hitter with excellent baserunning skills and strong defensive skills. His past 940 plate appearances have been so utterly unimpressive, though, that it is hard to remember he was once considered a threat at the plate. On top of that, his fielding marks have suffered substantially. He is nowhere near the guy who earned a lucrative deal last season.

In 55 games this season, he has a negative UZR, a below average baserunning mark and a putrid .211 wOBA. All told, Figgins has cost the Mariners 1.2 wins. His walk rate has progressively dropped from 13.9% to 10.5% last season, and now sits at 5.5%, which would be the lowest of his career if the season ended today. Since 2009, his wOBA has dropped from .358 to .302, all the way to the current .211 mark, which had Joe Pawlikowski wondering how much longer the Mariners would continue to write his name on the lineup card.

I recently wondered if Jose Bautista’s rise to superstardom was unprecedented in the annals of baseball history. So what if I repeated that research in the opposite direction? Namely, is the 33-year old Mariner’s decline unprecedented?

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The first memory most fans have of Andruw Jones is witnessing the then-teenager terrorize the New York Yankees in Game One of the 1996 World Series. While Jones’ Braves ultimately came up short in that Fall Classic, the Curacao native announced his presence as a future star by belting two home runs (replacing Mickey Mantle as the youngest ever to go deep in the World Series) and striding swiftly to fly balls that mere mortals would have to dive for, or miss altogether.

Now, Jones’ career has come full circle. He has reportedly signed a one-year, $2 million deal to serve as the Yankees’ fourth outfielder, with an additional $1.2 million in performance incentives possible. Thirty-four in April, Jones has the secondary skills to start for some teams, and he may now be the best reserve fly catcher in the game.
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The last few days have been particularly amusing in the sense that teams are getting rid of their sunk costs, players who instantly become linked to several other teams upon being released. First came Gary Sheffield, released by the Tigers despite being owed a hefty $14 mil. The Phillies followed by releasing Geoff Jenkins, seemingly in an attempt to replace him with Sheffield.

Then reports circulated that both Jenkins and Sheffield had made their way onto the Marlins radar. And today we learn that Sheffield has interest from three teams, of which two are the Reds and Phillies. But certain plans may have been wrenched today when it became evident that Andruw Jones is going to make the Rangers’ final roster.

By releasing Frank Catalanotto, the Rangers seem to be doing whatever they can to ensure that Jones breaks camp with the team. His story is too recent to be forgotten, so forgive me for not waxing poetic on the situation, but the Reds and Phillies were certainly banking on his being demoted or released. Both teams seem to be searching for a righty bench batter, and while Dave covered why Sheffield would not fit in with the Phillies current roster, Jones would have been a legitimate defensive replacement for the major league minimum capable of pinch-hitting and filling in when the inevitable injury bug strikes Shane Victorino or Jayson Werth.

Speaking of Catalanotto, guess who has interest? That’s right, the Florida Marlins, who recently released Dallas McPhereson, acquired Ross Gload from the Royals, and traded Robert Andino to the Orioles for Hayden Penn, all the while being linked to both Jenkins and Sheffield. The Marlins may have more interest in Catalanotto than either of Jenkins and Sheffield given his utility status, which would normally create a bidding war for the man with 499 dingers, but since anything above the minimum would only subtract from the amount owed by the Tigers, no such war will surface.

Thankfully, with the Phillies and Braves kicking off the season in just a couple of days the wacky offseason we have just experienced will come to a close, but now I’m curious to see who gets released each day and where they are immediately linked to playing. The watch is on for Jenkins, Sheffield, Catalanotto and McPhereson, as Jones looks poised to make the Rangers club.

So far, Andruw Jones hasn’t had the start to his Dodger career that anyone would have hoped for. His .149/.259/.234 line would make him a decent hitting pitcher, but as an $18 million dollar per year slugging outfielder, it’s pretty miserable. Is there something we can see in the graphs here that might give us an idea of why he’s struggled out of the gates?

The batted ball distribution in 2008 shows two clear changes from his career norms; a nearly 20% uptick in ground ball rate, which corresponds to declines in flyball and line drive rates. Instead of lifting the ball and driving it, Jones is hitting the ball on the ground at a rate that would categorize him as a slash-and-dash hitter who uses his speed to try to leg out infield singles. Perhaps 10 years ago, he might have been able to make that work, but not anymore. He relies on his abilities in the box to get him on base, and he’s just not capable of creating offense while he’s pounding the ball into the dirt.

The sample is still small enough, so we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about this being a definite change in skills. However, if you’re looking for a sign that Andruw is breaking out of his slump, look for him to get the ball in the air – when he starts getting lift in his swing again, the results will follow naturally.