Jones getting extension possibly???

[SrMeowMeow]

6/85 is a pretty strong deal.

[Going Underground]

Guthrie a class act.

Current Rockies and former O’s pitcher Jeremy Guthrie weighs in: “My boy @SimplyAJ10 & city of Baltimore deserve a long-term deal as much as anyone in @MLB He gets better each day!‪#HardWork‬ ‪#Leader‬ ‪#5Tools‬”

[Stotle]

Again, in general I agree that they need underpaid players--my point is those can be the year-to-year players (as Jones was for the past 4 seasons). Look at Weiters today. He IS performing at a far better rate than he's getting paid (FAR FAR FAR better), and at a cheaper price than he would be with an extension, and without any long term risk by the O's, so some of that money is going to Markakis and now maybe Jones. If the O's keep developing those types of players, they'll be good. If not, they won't. Unfortunately, almost all of those players for the O's have been top 10 picks (even top 5)--they need to keep developing young talent.

Got it. Requires tight-rope walking and player development that the organization hasn't been able to provide recently, but we'll see what new leadership leads to. Maybe BAL can continually bring in producers through the system.

One note -- BAL would actually need to do more than they have in the past, considering they are overperforming in the W/L column and still generally need to up their talent level to be a consistent contender.

[Stotle]

Before this season, I don't think I would have favored this deal because I wasn't sure that Adam could ever lay off bad pitches. But this year it is noticeable how much better he is at laying of the breaking pitch out of the zone. To me, that is a big part of his success. I now that you can say short sample size, but I don't recall him ever being able to consistently lay off that pitch no matter how well he was hitting.

I think he very much looks like the same player he has been -- maybe marginal improvements, but no big jumps in development.

[Babypowder]

14 home runs in 6 weeks? I'd say that's a jump.

An unsustainable jump in HR/FB, yes.

[Stotle]

14 home runs in 6 weeks? I'd say that's a jump.

The odds are, no, that's not a jump in development.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I think he very much looks like the same player he has been -- maybe marginal improvements, but no big jumps in development.

Without looking at pitch FX, do you think he's being more selective this year? Driving balls better to the opposite field? What about improved positioning/defense? Do you think his HR potential could drastically improve into the 30-35+ range?

(I'm skeptical myself about this deal)

[CA-ORIOLE]

That's fine. You're the scout and all. Still not a reason to not sign him long term. The list of CFers who are better than Jones is pretty small: Hamilton, Kemp, maybe Granderson.

Well as of last year it was quite a bit larger.

[Stotle]

That's fine. You're the scout and all. Still not a reason to not sign him long term. The list of CFers who are better than Jones is pretty small: Hamilton, Kemp, maybe Granderson.

I don't think the contract will be a bad one. We'll see if Baltimore makes the (I think necessary) decision to up payroll to around $110-120 MM.

[Babypowder]

Fair enough, I won't convince you otherwise. He's still the single best position player the O's have had since Brian Roberts and Tejada were All Stars. Can't wait around for the perfect player. Lock him up.

The 2007-2008 version of Nick Markakis disagrees.

[AgentOrange]

I think this deal is outstanding. It shows the fanbase that we have a new face of the franchise and Adam is a true leader. I think that is still important in this day and age.

I hope this gets done sooner than later. He will be worth it, both on and off the field.

[SrMeowMeow]

Jones is entering his prime. I think he's a very good bet to be worth this deal, unlikely to drastically fall short in value, and there's a real chance he breaks out and makes it a huge steal.

[Stotle]

I think this deal is outstanding. It shows the fanbase that we have a new face of the franchise and Adam is a true leader. I think that is still important in this day and age.

I hope this gets done sooner than later. He will be worth it, both on and off the field.

And this, above, is exactly why Baltimore had no choice but to make the deal. I don't think it's a great baseball move given the context of the organization, but I think it's one that the fanbase (and the would-be season ticket holders for 2013) each demand.

[Babypowder]

No doubt, but we're talking a year. Jones is the more impactful player at this point. But I'm glad we locked up both of them.

The Markakis extension is a cautionary tale to me.

[CA-ORIOLE]

How's that?

Adam Jones has a wRC+ of 103 prior to his year in addition to subpar defense. There were a lot of CF's better than him prior to this year.