Adam Jones and Defense

[weams]

Quote

“That’s the thing,” he said. “You have who you have, and there’s nothing against who we have. But you have to go with what you have and be as good as you can with what you have.

“It’s no slap to anyone else, but when you had me, (Nick) Markakis and (Nate) McLouth, or me, Markakis and (Alejandro) De Aza, let me know what happened. You see over in Boston when you’ve got (Jackie) Bradley, (Mookie) Betts and when they have (Chris) Young out there and when they have (Andrew) Benintendi. You look at Tampa, the athleticism that they have with (Kevin) Kiermaier, (Steven) Souza and whoever they put in left. Then you go to New York with (Jacoby) Ellsbury, (Brett) Gardner, who won his first Gold Glove and I’m so proud of that. I love how he plays. And it’s an easy right field to play.

“I’m just saying you have to improve the defense. It’s no slap against anybody. You just have to have elite defenders. That’s just part of baseball, like I said. It’s part of winning. You don’t have David Price, Chris Sale, guys who are going out there and striking out 250 guys. Our defense is used, which is great. But we just need to improve our defense.

“I don’t know what’s going to be implemented in spring training. I’m sure that they have something they want to implement. I’m a team guy. I’m all ears to whatever they want to implement and whatever they feel will get us better. I’m an employee. I’m not a boss of any sort, I don’t make any decisions. I’m an employee with a strong opinion. That’s just my two cents.”

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2017/02/orioles-could-add-another-catcher.html

[Babypowder]

A lot of uproar about his quotes lately on Twitter and radio. I don't get it. The only thing I have a problem with is he seems to be taking no personal responsibility for the downturn, even though most of our eyes and the metrics say he was a big part of the problem last season. Saying they need to improve defensively in the outfield is a fact. Are players supposed to say nothing all the time? I guess they are, which is why the vast majority of player/coach interviews are fluffy boring nonsense. I like that Adam isn't like that.

[mdbdotcom]

Have to agree with Adam. Would be nice if they could package Brach, Mancini and Smith or Kim for an outfielder who hits all pitching reasonably well and plays outstanding defense.

[mdbdotcom]

5 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

A lot of uproar about his quotes lately on Twitter and radio. I don't get it. The only thing I have a problem with is he seems to be taking no personal responsibility for the downturn, even though most of our eyes and the metrics say he was a big part of the problem last season. Saying they need to improve defensively in the outfield is a fact. Are players supposed to say nothing all the time? I guess they are, which is why the vast majority of player/coach interviews are fluffy boring nonsense. I like that Adam isn't like that.

I have no problem with it. I expect Adam to say what he means. With everything he does on the field, in the clubhouse, and in the community, he's earned the right to speak his mind without a PR filter shutting him down.

I'm not sure how he could take more personal responsibility for the downturn in defense. He has cited his age numerous times now, and it seems obvious to me that he's saying we can't expect as much from him out there as we used to.

I love watching him play and am glad he's an Oriole. I wish we had a center fielder good enough to force him to move to RF, but that is not the case.

[Frobby]

My issue is that Adam needs to recognize that he didn't have a good year defensively himself.   Hopefully it was injury related and he'll be better this year.   That's the first thing he should worry about.     Then he can worry about his teammates.   

[Babypowder]

1 minute ago, mdbdotcom said:

I have no problem with it. I expect Adam to say what he means. With everything he does on the field, in the clubhouse, and in the community, he's earned the right to speak his mind without a PR filter shutting him down.

I'm not sure how he could take more personal responsibility for the downturn in defense. He has cited his age numerous times now, and it seems obvious to me that he's saying we can't expect as much from him out there as we used to.

I love watching him play and am glad he's an Oriole. I wish we had a center fielder good enough to force him to move to RF, but that is not the case.

Everything I have seen him say on this topic is centered around the corner guys. I haven't seen him say "I need to be better too" or anything similar. In the article weams just quoted, his argument is how he's not trying to be negative towards anyone, but when the outfield was HIMSELF and these other guys it was much better.

Again, I'm totally fine with his opinion, and I love Adam Jones for speaking his mind on all topics. This is a minor nitpick. I'd just like to see him also admit that the whole outfield needs to be better, himself included.

[webbrick2010]

I loved what he said... I've been saying it for two years

We need to get younger faster and more athletic... I posted this at least two years ago

I don't think AJ is happy with DD offseason... he knows a beer league softball lineup is not going to cut it.

We are about to go into the season without a single plus defender in the OF..... again

[ELMERO]

56 minutes ago, Frobby said:

My issue is that Adam needs to recognize that he didn't have a good year defensively himself.   Hopefully it was injury related and he'll be better this year.   That's the first thing he should worry about.     Then he can worry about his teammates.   

If someone of authority would remind Jones that he is a player and not the guy in charge, he would've been switched to RF for the good of the team.  I don't know if he actually had "his meeting with Mr. Angelos", but I found that a little disturbing, that he was going to jump the "chain of command."  If he really wants a more athletic OF, his switching to RF, could do so.  But, hey, it's a little bit late now to look for a speedy CFer.  He would be one of the best RFers in baseball. which would be to his benefit in the not-too-distant future.  I think you can safely "assume" that nobody, in control, has the balls to tell him.   The Nats Michael Taylor might be available.  After scouring every team's rosters, he looks like the only feasible possibility to get in a trade .

[Frobby]

48 minutes ago, ELMERO said:

If someone of authority would remind Jones that he is a player and not the guy in charge, he would've been switched to RF for the good of the team.  I don't know if he actually had "his meeting with Mr. Angelos", but I found that a little disturbing, that he was going to jump the "chain of command."  If he really wants a more athletic OF, his switching to RF, could do so.  But, hey, it's a little bit late now to look for a speedy CFer.  He would be one of the best RFers in baseball. which would be to his benefit in the not-too-distant future.  I think you can safely "assume" that nobody, in control, has the balls to tell him.   The Nats Michael Taylor might be available.  After scouring every team's rosters, he looks like the only feasible possibility to get in a trade .

I think you're reading too much into the situation regarding whether Jones would be willing to move to RF or whether the Orioles would be afraid to ask.   He had a good defensive season in 2015, and it's not clear whether the slippage in 2016 was due to nagging injuries or age (though the two can be related, of course).   I don't think the O's are quite ready to move him, for substantive reasons, not because they're afraid to tell him.    And while they might have been able to find a better defensive CF, it would have been difficult to find one who can hit his weight.   These guys don't grow on trees.

[tntoriole]

The way he played defensively last year, I can see particularly why he wants an upgrade in the corners. 

[Spy Fox]

I don't think it's a resistance to accountability, I think it's probably that Jones looks at his three gold gloves and thinks, hmm, maybe I know better than these stat guys about where I should be playing. And he knows that Kim, Smith, and Trumbo aren't going to be great fielders regardless of their positioning. 

I hope that, behind the scenes, Jones is receptive to suggestions about his positioning if the coaching staff has them. And these would be nicer comments on the surface if Jones would add a "and I need to work hard too" but I don't have a real problem with them as long as Jones is putting in his own efforts. He's never struck me as a lackadaisical guy and I know he wants to win, so I assume he's going to work to be the best he can for the team on the defensive side. Hopefully that includes a willingness to listen. 

[pastorfan]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

My issue is that Adam needs to recognize that he didn't have a good year defensively himself.   Hopefully it was injury related and he'll be better this year.   That's the first thing he should worry about.     Then he can worry about his teammates.   

I agree, though I think all he said was true. My concern is just that IMO when players say things like this it is dysfunctional. A well ran team will not have players give such opinions.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, pastorfan said:

I agree, though I think all he said was true. My concern is just that IMO when players say things like this it is dysfunctional. A well ran team will not have players give such opinions.

I honestly don't have a problem with anything he said.   Heck, management stated at the outset of the offseason that one of their goals was to improve the outfield defense, so it's not like Jones was really saying anything that hadn't been said already.   I just would have liked to see him put a bit of responsibility on himself.    But I don't think any of this is going to cause issues between Jones and management or Jones and his teammates.

[pastorfan]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I honestly don't have a problem with anything he said.   Heck, management stated at the outset of the offseason that one of their goals was to improve the outfield defense, so it's not like Jones was really saying anything that hadn't been said already.   I just would have liked to see him put a bit of responsibility on himself.    But I don't think any of this is going to cause issues between Jones and management or Jones and his teammates.

No, I don't think the guys he mentioned will care one bit that he pointed out their weaknesses. I'm sure if one of them talked about the need for more "plate discipline," and used Jones as an example, he would not mind

[El Gordo]

I think Jones would  move to RF if they got a better CF. Right now he's still the best they have.