Is Adam Jones the new Luis Matos?

[birdman57]

I'm in favor of leaving Jones where he is. Who are we going to put there that will be better??? Let him develop more plate discipline and grow into the job. I don't think it will stunt his growth. To compare AJ to Matos is bit moronic IMHO:)

[Guest rochester]

I'd send him down to AAA for a bit...let him work on getting fixed and the confidence back.

[bumblebee]

Obviously Jones looks like crap right now but lets not forget how bad Torri Hunter was when he was young....

...Hunter, I believe, was sent down in one of his first years for struggling so badly.

If anything is needed beyond Jones terrible performance to demonstrate that action must be taken, the O's should use this learning. Send hiM

down to get his act together!

Developing talent is not just throwing players onto the field and lettingthem sink or swim. It's also not putting them in positions to fail (leadoff). It's about doing everything necessary - physical and mental- to develop them. That includes going down to work on some basic fundamentals, and getting the message that becoming a great ballplayer is not easy.

[bobmc]

I'm in favor of leaving Jones where he is. Who are we going to put there that will be better??? Let him develop more plate discipline and grow into the job. I don't think it will stunt his growth. To compare AJ to Matos is bit moronic IMHO:)

This, well except for the "moronic" part and

My personal opinion, based on not much, is that AJ is running into his own personal saga of how the game humbles you. He's a well-mannered and likable guy, but I'm not sure if he's ever been humbled. Last year, Pie got humbled and climbed back up to be better than ever. Not saying Pie and AJ are the same person, I don't believe they are. But I think what we're seeing is AJ finding out about being humbled, which may be something he never ever faced before (or maybe he has, beats me, I don't really know). The challenge is to be humbled without letting it break your spirit or your focus. For some guys, I think baseball is like the western version of Zen, you have to completely lose yourself and focus entirely on each moment without letting yourself get in the way. How to best do that is one of those mystery things about which everybody is different.

AJ got where he is by being himself, then the AS game and GG just amped that part up even more. Now he's finding out that it's not that easy, that it's time to lose the ego part, and he just doesn't know how to do that yet. However, he seems like a pretty whole person in spite of having gone through the school of hard knocks, and I'm confident he can get humbled and learn. I don't pretend to know what specifics would be best for him, but whatever they are, I think it's reached the point where this is what the core issue is about. I realize I might be wrong, but this is how it looks to me....

Good stuff Shack - you're MUSing but that's what we do here and try to figure out what ails our objects of affection when we have nothing other than what we have seen with other folks in our worlds. I agree with you that he will figure it out. But just having his D out there - even with the style points is soooooo much better than the alternatives. I'd rather see him figure it out than see CPat flail or Gathright not hit his way out of a paper bag. And JMHO for what it's worth - zilch!