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Yankees News: Andruw Jones Hoping to Return to MLB

By Caleb Gebrewold

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Former New York Yankees outfielder, Andruw Jones, a five time all star who won ten straight Gold Gloves as one of the premier centerfielders of his generation, is aiming to make a major league return.  Jones, who has spent the past two seasons playing for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League after spending two season serving as the Yankees fourth outfielder, was a key cog of the incredible run of the Atlanta Braves dynasty.

Jones is no longer capable of being an everyday outfielder, or an everyday position player anywhere on the diamond for that matter.  In fact, Jones only played one game in the outfield in the entire two years he spent playing for the Golden Eagles, spending 48 games at first base, and mostly serving as a designated hitter.

Scott Boras, Jones’ agent, has stated that at least two teams are interested in having Jones serve as a DH or a platoon player who faces left handed pitching.  While it is an agents job to always have a team that is “interested”, in order to drive up the price, this may not be a fabricated story on Boras’ part.  Right handed power is scarce in the MLB these days, and Jones can still hit left handed pitching.

While his splits were quite even in 2012, his last season in the MLB, in 2011, he mashed against left handed pitching, posting a slash line of .286/.384/.540 against lefties compared to his paltry .172/.303/.406 line against right handed pitching.  His slash against lefties would have had him in the top ten in OBP, SLG, and OPS, something that may give teams in need of a right handed bat off the bench hope.

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While Jones would certainly have to earn his roster spot, I believe that some team out there searching for a power hitting righty off their bench will take a chance and extend a spring training invite to the 37 year old Jones with the hope he shows enough to make the trip from either Arizona or Florida.

That team, however, should not be the Yankees.  The issue is not that the team is filled with players on the wrong side of 30, it is that the Yankees already have a right handed hitter who can serve as a platoon DH on their bench in Alex Rodriguez.  Giving Jones a roster spot would only be taking one away from the younger guys, and this is something the Yankees should not do, as the development of youth is vital at this stage.

Assuming Rodriguez isn’t cut or doesn’t go down with an injury, he should be able to provide as much, if not more, than Jones, and having two similar players is not smart.  The Yankees do not have a speedster or superb defender on the bench, and if a roster spot is taken from a young guy to a specialty player, this would be the wiser route to go.  We saw in this past postseason how important a great defender with speed can be late in games, as Jarrod Dyson played a vital role in the Kansas City Royals remarkable run, with Terrance Gore even being used late in games simply for his ability to run and defend.  Both players don’t offer much with the bat, but were able to swing close games in the Royals favor with key steals and defensive plays, with Dyson playing in every game except Game 1 of the World Series, and even starting the three games in San Fransisco, even though he hit .125 throughout the postseason.

With the dominance of pitching in today’s game, the Yankees would simply be much wiser to add a speedy player who can take the field for Carlos Beltran late in close games than they would to add a player like Jones, who offers power versus lefties and not much else.

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