Adam Jones is amongst the worst defensive outfielders this year

[JTrea81]

Jones seems to have trouble with OPACY for some reason. His away UZR is consistently above average, and his home UZR is consistently below average by a lot more.

This could point to a problem with the park effect calculations, or it could just point to a home field quirk that is unfavorable to Jones' skillset.

All the Orioles OFers are worse at home. UZR has not yet been adjusted for Oriole Park like it has some other parks like Fenway.

I'd be interested to see this year's home/away splits.

[CA-ORIOLE]

All the Orioles OFers are worse at home. UZR has not yet been adjusted for Oriole Park like it has some other parks like Fenway.

I'd be interested to see this year's home/away splits.

All parks are adjusted. Accuracy is another issue.

[Gurgi]

This is the argument that happens around Jeter. People are shocked that the defensive stats say he sucks. And really if you watch him day in and day out. Yeah he isnt that good.

Watching Jones day in and day out. Jones isnt very good.

But like Jeter they make the spectacular play look spectacular.

He is what he is at this point. His defense will likely never get much better.

[CA-ORIOLE]

This is the argument that happens around Jeter. People are shocked that the defensive stats say he sucks. And really if you watch him day in and day out. Yeah he isnt that good.

Watching Jones day in and day out. Jones isnt very good.

But like Jeter they make the spectacular play look spectacular.

He is what he is at this point. His defense will likely never get much better.

Well, I will say this. I don't think Jeter was as bad as some people think, there is a similar issue. If you look at his away UZR splits they are about average and his home away splits are below average. Many of Jeters ugly UZR stat years were since adjusted. Old Yankee stadium was a pretty fast infield. For whatever reason he made significantly more errors at home than away.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statsplits.aspx?playerid=6368&position=OF&season=0

[srock]

I don't know about the numbers on this one, but do know for sure that that Adam Jones' hand full of spectacular catches have been a shining beacon of pleasure in an otherwise distressful half of baseball.

[ChuckS]

I don't buy it. Look at some of those other guys at the bottom of the list? Juan Pierre? Ichiro Suzuki? Those guys are not among the worst outfielders in baseball, sorry.

[VeveJones007]

I don't buy it. Look at some of those other guys at the bottom of the list? Juan Pierre? Ichiro Suzuki? Those guys are not among the worst outfielders in baseball, sorry.

I live around Chicago and see a lot of White Sox games. Trust me on this one: Juan Pierre has been as bad as those defensive metrics suggest.

[Gurgi]

I don't buy it. Look at some of those other guys at the bottom of the list? Juan Pierre? Ichiro Suzuki? Those guys are not among the worst outfielders in baseball, sorry.

Ichiro and Markakis both have great arms or had great arms. They have limited range however.

Markakis might be hampered by Camden Yards short porch.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't buy it. Look at some of those other guys at the bottom of the list? Juan Pierre? Ichiro Suzuki? Those guys are not among the worst outfielders in baseball, sorry.

While I'm skeptical that the park effects at OPACY are being properly accounted for, I tend to believe UZR, +/-, and similar metrics are more right than they're wrong. They're certainly more of a basis for estimating defensive performance than looking at a list and saying it doesn't make intuitive sense based on reputation.

Pierre and Ichiro are 33 and 37, respectively. Speed peaks very early, in one's early 20s. I would be more surprised if any outfielders in their mid-30s were still among the best in the game, than over the decline of those guys.

[wildcard]

Jones is probably having his best defensive year.

I have been saying for years the UZR is not accurate enough to be trusted. This is just another example.

[DrungoHazewood]

Jones is probably having his best defensive year.

I have been saying for years the UZR is not accurate enough to be trusted. This is just another example.

Prove it.

What you're telling me is that just watching Adam Jones play, but not in any careful, systematic way where you record the results, is more accurate than doing the exact same thing but paying close attention and writing down the results of every play.

You're telling us that the figure skating judge method of ranking fielders is really the best system, and you're the Bulgarian official.

[Gurgi]

I have honestly watched at least 85% of the games this year. UZR is actually backing up my personal observations. I still see a lot of balls going over his head. Lots of balls fall in front of him because he seems to react slow a lot.

If I was MacPhail I would seriously look to move him to LF or trade him. But I dont expect MacPhail to do either. He seems a stand pat and a real non risk taking kind of guy. So look for him to stay with Jones for the next several years. They seem to like his clubhouse presence and Buck seems to love talking about how many kids his age hit 19 homeruns a season and play center.

If we are being completely honest Jones deserved neither the All-star or the Gold Glove he got in 2009.

[Frobby]

All the Orioles OFers are worse at home. UZR has not yet been adjusted for Oriole Park like it has some other parks like Fenway.

I'd be interested to see this year's home/away splits.

The fact that all the Oriole outfielders have been worse at home than on the road for several seasons now, tells you that something is wrong with the way UZR is calculated. It makes zero sense that outfielders would play worse in the ballpark that they know, where they play 81 games a year, compared to all the different road parks where they play.

[Frobby]

If we are being completely honest Jones deserved neither the All-star or the Gold Glove he got in 2010.

He didn't get either one in 2010. That was in 2009.

[Phantom]

Any flaws in this measurement system are nothing compared to the insanely flawed system that is human observation. I get the feeling people would not be complaining if the system found that Jones was far better than they had observed (see Wieters, Matt).