Small play by Jones tonight that I didn't like

[Mayor McCheese]

Something has to be done about it. It's not as bad as having Betemit or Reynolds at third base, but it's getting there.

You are over thinking that play too much.

Jones was running in full speed to catch the ball, at some point closing in he knew he was not going to catch it and now had to field it. He gloved it on the short hop, which caught him off guard and it deflected by him.

No need to criticize Jones on his defense when other areas of the team need a lot more criticizing.

[Dodobirds]

Nate needs to play CF. Jones needs to move to LF. Adam is failing in CF. He has probably cost us the Yankee series and the Tampa series if we fail to beat Price tomorrow.

The fundamentals on this team as a whole are pretty weak so far. This division is ours for the taking this year. Hopefully we start playing up to our abilities/potential.

[Mayor McCheese]

Nate needs to play CF. Jones needs to move to LF. Adam is failing in CF. He has probably cost us the Yankee series and the Tampa series if we fail to beat Price tomorrow.

The fundamentals on this team as a whole are pretty weak so far. This division is ours for the taking this year. Hopefully we start playing up to our abilities/potential.

Sayyyyy what!!??!???

I am pretty sure the 6 runs we gave up cost us the game NOT Jones. If you forgot Jones did tie the game with his bat. The ONLY runs we scored. The issue is our hitters struggling and our starting pitching can not be effective and go deep into games.

What you just typed is the most idiotic thought I have ever seen before.

[Why Not?]

I was furious by the treatment that Eddie received, but I don't think the criticisms of Jones are comparable. I think almost everyone considers Jones to be a hard-working, hard nosed ballplayer. He has a habit, which IMO is undeniable, of cruising to balls in the OF and catching them as he arrives, instead of getting to the spot earlier and waiting for the ball to arrive there. That occasionally hurts him if (1) he has misjudged the ball or it gets caught in a gust of wind, or (2) he needs to position himself in the best possible way to make a throw. I don't view it as a lack of effort, but as a bad habit.

I will grant you that there are some fans who do criticize his level of effort, or not concentrating. I think that's a pretty small minority.

I just think there is a tendency by fans to make a big deal out of the small things a superstar doesn't do well. While you may not think that way, I think a lot of folks see Jones' approach on fly balls as a lack of effort on lack of awareness.

[section18]

Joe and Fred on the radio did not make excuses for AJ tonight. I was driving home and heard them describe his two bad plays that led to more runs crossing home plate. I think he's hearing or reading the comments and it's getting to him. His defense right now is highlight stuff almost every game. I would rather have McLouth in CF but it will never happen. Don't forget AJ did not start out as a CF. McLouth is a natural CF. AJ could probably be a GG in LF.

[tinamodotti]

[Gurgi]

I think the only GG Jones should win is as DH. The guy is pretty bad out there.

[baltfan]

You could look at this as Jones just trying too hard. It looks like he was thinking about trying to make a diving catch and got caught in between. The guy cares, sometime so much that he chokes. He will learn from all of this.

[russ snyder]

Jones has obviously struggled defensively this year. I think that he will continue to have streches like this because of his approach. I like Jones, but I think there are times that he'd rather look good than make the proper play. The Gardner play is a good example of this. Other teams know that Adam isn't the most fundamentally sound outfielder and are going to take full advantage of his mental lapses.

[Tony-OH]

The throw the play before the "missed liner" was much worse in my opinion. The missed liner looked like it took a bit of a bad bounce and Jones was caught in between. I'm ok with that because he was trying to come in and make a diving play when he got stuck in no mans land. That can happen to any outfielder and I won't get on him for that.

Now, saying that, I'll absolutely get on him for making a throw that misses the cut off man that allowed Duncan to take second and take the team out of the double play. There was no reason for the throw because Longoria was stopping at third and even if he wasn't, you always hit the cut off man in that situation so the cut has options for the best chance at an out. Even if Longoria scores there, you have a runner on first and maybe Jones wouldn't have felt a need to go for that liner that got by him and maybe it's just first and second with one run scored instead of two in and a man on second.

I don't know if Jones is getting comfortable or not, but I do know that Jones cares a lot about winning and doing well. At the same time, Jones has brought a lot of these situations onto himself over the last week or so. The lack of running balls out, gliding to balls in the air or in the gap, allowing runners to take extra bases on non-chalant plays, and of course dropping balls that hit him in the glove is not a good way for a team leader to conduct himself on the field.

Adam may be just going through one of those stretches where he needs a reminder, hopefully by Buck, that he's held to a higher standard as a team leader. He should be the model player, and the only mistakes he makes should be physical, not mental or anything that could be conceived as not giving 100 percent effort. Jones has a ton of talent both offensively and defensively and he needs to just let that talent shine through by busting his tail and mentally being ready on every play.

Jones is still a fairly young man and just may need a little more maturing. My guess is we won't see these kinds of mistakes in the future.

[Abadie]

It should also be noted that on the liner AJ missed...the runner on second base was half way to 3rd to see if it was going to be caught. Had he caught the ball on a bounce, only 1 run scores and we may have a 3-2 ball game.

I appreciate the offense, but defensively.... c'mon man!

[Malike]

People say the same exact things about Cano. If every player isn't using the Fred McGriff video for fundamentals, they are hot dogs and lazy.

[SeaBird]

Jones has obviously struggled defensively this year. I think that he will continue to have streches like this because of his approach. I like Jones, but I think there are times that he'd rather look good than make the proper play. The Gardner play is a good example of this. Other teams know that Adam isn't the most fundamentally sound outfielder and are going to take full advantage of his mental lapses.

Exactly. He's branding himself to be "cool" and wants to look good; show a little flair.

As for the GG awards, they haven't meant a thing to me ever since Palmeiro got one in 1999 for a position he hardly played.

[The Rick]

Jones is 27 and turns 28 in a few months. This is his 8th year in the majors, and 6th playing full time. It's beyond frustrating to see him regress defensively. He's athletic, makes a lot of nice plays, but we've seen an uptick in the bad plays so far. That said, there's only 148 games left, so he has time to make us forget about his terrible April to date. I do like Jones, and I think the effort is there. He seems like a great dude, and a leader. But he needs to step up defensively. There's no excuse for this level of regression.

[Dipper9]

I love Adam Jones. He's one of my favorite players. That said, sometimes he makes bad plays. Saying that doesn't mean I'm attacking him, nor does it mean I'm giving him the "Eddie" treatment. Its just an observation. Those saying we have no right to criticize him need to wake up. EVERY player on the team, coaches, manager, GM, owner, is open to criticism. Sometimes its fair, sometimes not, but they are always open to criticism.

Jones made two bad plays last night. That's it. Doesn't mean he's lazy or lacks effort.