The Overweight, Overpaid,and Overrated Andruw Jones

by user Brendan.Canney

After a 5 to 0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday, the Atlanta Braves ran their scoreless streak to 3 games and Andruw Jones hit a milestone. He has become a member of the Mendoza Line. The scoreless streak may have ended today in a 2 to 1 loss to the Tigers, however their star player, Andruw Jones, continued to struggle. In the 2-1 loss Andruw Jones went hitless in 2 at-bats and is now 0 for his last 21. Not exactly the kind of production you want from a star player who is earning $14,000,000 this season.

Now if you think that is bad you haven't even seen the worst of it. During the month of May, Jones batted .202, had an OBP of .286, and had a SLG% of .343. And oh wait, it gets worse. During the current month of June, Jones is batting .127, has an OBP of .169. and has a SLG% of .266. The man has only 11 multi-hit games in 73 games played while Kelly Johnson (who is getting paid $380,000 this year) has 19 in 71 games played. I mean, the guy can't even hit unless the pitch happens to be a fastball. Against curves he is hitting .198, against sliders he is hitting .221, and against change-ups he is batting.206. Now, many know Andruw Jones is best known for his glove than his bat but if you were to compare his Zone Rating (the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc.) to that of other center fielders in the last 5 years he doesn't even crack the top 5.

The only reason he ends up winning so many gold gloves is because he gets plastered all over Sportscenter. Grant it, he makes some spectacular plays but his Zone Rating suggest he dogs it sometimes. Now lets get into some career numbers with Andruw Jones. He is a career .264 hitter who has only batted once over .300 (.303 in 2000), has accumulated at least 100 strikeouts in every full season he's played (currently on pace to break his SO record this season), and has a career on base percentage of .343. So what is the lure of Andruw Jones? Why is is when anyone who calls him overrated gets chastised when anyone with a brain can see he is just an okay player, not a great one? So go ahead, chastise me.

ChristofMVP

927 days ago

Score 1

I am surprised as to Jones conditioning this season. This year is, after all, his contract year. If he wants a big payday come winter, he needs to be producing now. This is simply not happening.

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Brendan.CanneyDiv-I Stud

927 days ago

Score 3

He needs to eat a salad.

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KelsdadAll-Star

927 days ago

Score 1

Agree, agree, agree. The announcers on TBS every night blowing smoke up our asses on how great he is is just that...smoke. There's no fire in his game. He hot dogs easy catches to make them look tough, and he's nothing more than a .260 hitter.

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RomiezzoLegend

926 days ago

Score 4

Andruw Jones is overrated when it comes to hitting now. But this year is the year of decline. Take a look at Adam LaRoche, Manny Ramirez, JD Drew, Robinson Cano, Chone Figgins. Some of them are coming back, but not everyone is perfect. Remember Jeter's 0 for 36 streak (I think it was 36 but I'm not sure)? He came back and did really well. I'm not saying that Jones is gonna pull off a Derek Jeter, but everyone goes through slumps. The Braves are doing pretty good for themselves though. Chipper Jones has done a tremendous job this year. Pitching's all right, and so is the D, which is why they're only 1.5 games behind the Mets, besides the fact that the Mets are slumping. Does this mean that Andruw Jones is gonna go to another team. Are the Braves gonna lose interest in getting him back this year? I say no. Why? Because the Braves know what he can do. He's done a lot for the organization, and he will come back eventually, IMO. But for Jones, even if he's not doing well on offense, he's still doing well on defense. He's not in his prime, but he's still gonna do all right, I think..

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The sharkDraft Pick

926 days ago

Score -1

Jones has never been above average offensively. Anyone remember Rob Deer?

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RomiezzoLegend

926 days ago

Score 0

Oh, yeah. Rob Deer. He reminds so much of Andruw Jones, except for the fact that Deer never hit about over 33 home runs. His batting average was really low. But he didn't play very long. That's a pretty good comparison though

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The sharkDraft Pick

926 days ago

Score 0

Jones wouldn't know a good batting average if it bounced off his bat and landed in right field for a weak, lucky single.

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Niteowl049AAA-er

926 days ago

Score 0

Vernon Wells is having a down year with only 7 homers and 21 behind league leader Alex Rodriguez.

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Bobbyjim45Draft Pick

926 days ago

Score 0

Chase Utley leads the league in HBPs with 15.

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WizardmanRed-Shirting

926 days ago

Score 0

Yeah, Andruw Jones seems to be on the way down. He's 30 though, so power wise he should be in his prime. To raw comparisons to Rob Deer though Jones needs to strike out more.

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RomiezzoLegend

926 days ago

Score 0

Andruw Jones is going to be more successful than Deer because he started earlier than Deer and also because he's most likely going to end his career later. Jones has better defense as well. All in all, Jones is a better player than Deer (duh), but we're talking about batting averages and how often he gets on base. And when comparing those 2, they're similar..

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Behbigben15All-Star

926 days ago

Score 0

Don't give up on him, I am sure he will come back and at least win yet another gold glove, everyone has slumps even though this one is a rather large one. He has always been that big, I thought, he can still run.

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RomiezzoLegend

926 days ago

Score 0

Of course he's gonna win another gold glove. Gold Gloves mean nothing now because they give them to players who are usually less deserving to those who win it. He's getting older, and he's sure making us look at him like he's getting older..

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Orioles1818Waterboy

926 days ago

Score 0

I'd be shocked if he didn't have a strong second half, but even with that he'll probably only end up hitting around .250. He's just not a great hitter, and he seems to be swinging for the fences constantly. But while he may be overrated, he's still a great outfielder, definitely, and is still a solid player. He just won't hit .300 or anything like that.

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RomiezzoLegend

926 days ago

Score 0

He's definitely worth keeping. He better have a strong half. I haven't seen many of his games, but if he keeps swinging for the fences, he's not going to help the team out whatsoever.

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

926 days ago

Score 0

I'm wondering if his play (and conditioning) is related to the stress of the contract year. Maybe he can't handle the pressure of earning a huge deal.

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TyduffyRed-Shirting

926 days ago

Score 0

Jayson Stark has him listed as the most overrated CF in baseball. He was once a great defensive center fielder, but his zone ratings are not just bad. They are hideous. If I remember correctly, they have been the lowest in the league 2 out of the last 3 seasons. He is going to end being one of those very good but not great Hall of Famers who get in based on their numbers. In his case, it will be 9 straight Gold Gloves and 500 home runs.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

926 days ago

Score 1

Gold Gloves in this era of baseball are handed out like halloween candy. I mean, how did they decide on Andruw Jones the last 5 years? I think I may have the answer. "You know, he's gotten the Gold Glove award the last couple of years, lets just give it to him. Screw those other players, Jones is a marketable athlete in Atlanta and sells jerseys."

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