2008 Starting CF: Andruw Jones?

[MoochieDC_86]

Maybe Kasten has something in store to open the new stadium with....

Check out this article...

ATLANTA -- When talking to Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, it sounds like Nationals team president Stan Kasten and bench coach Pat Corrales are like family to him. The three were together in Atlanta for most of Jones' career. Kasten and Corrales previously held similar roles with the Braves.
In fact, Jones calls Corrales one of his baseball "fathers" and fondly recalls Kasten as the guy who helped him get his first multi-year deal.

"Corrales is one of my fathers, just like [Braves manager] Bobby Cox," Jones said. "Seeing him on the other side is weird, but when we get on the field, we try to win. He knows a bunch of our secrets. Stan was the one that got me my first contract here. It's good to see people like that doing what they are doing."

Jones will be a free agent after the 2007 season and as the season winds down, there will be speculation on whether or not Jones would want to be reunited with Corrales and Kasten. Jones said he is not thinking about the future right now.

"My love is in Atlanta and I'm going to do my best to be here," Jones said. "But this is a business. Anything could happen. If something happens, whatever team comes with an offer to me and I see the team has a chance to win, I will do it."


Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[GburgNatsFan]

Oh, don't... It's not fair to talk like this. It's just not fair.

Maybe Kasten has something in store to open the new stadium with....

Check out this article...

ATLANTA -- When talking to Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, it sounds like Nationals team president Stan Kasten and bench coach Pat Corrales are like family to him. The three were together in Atlanta for most of Jones' career. Kasten and Corrales previously held similar roles with the Braves.
In fact, Jones calls Corrales one of his baseball "fathers" and fondly recalls Kasten as the guy who helped him get his first multi-year deal.

"Corrales is one of my fathers, just like [Braves manager] Bobby Cox," Jones said. "Seeing him on the other side is weird, but when we get on the field, we try to win. He knows a bunch of our secrets. Stan was the one that got me my first contract here. It's good to see people like that doing what they are doing."

Jones will be a free agent after the 2007 season and as the season winds down, there will be speculation on whether or not Jones would want to be reunited with Corrales and Kasten. Jones said he is not thinking about the future right now.

"My love is in Atlanta and I'm going to do my best to be here," Jones said. "But this is a business. Anything could happen. If something happens, whatever team comes with an offer to me and I see the team has a chance to win, I will do it."


Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[tomterp]

That would go a long ways towards establishing excitement and credibility with the extended fan base.  But he'll be Soriano-like expensive, though I'd rather have Jones than Soriano.  Andruw is the best CF in baseball today, and he'll be so for the next 5 years most likely.

[MoochieDC_86]

But I think we can afford him next year...

We won't be spending money on anyone else....If this team comes along this year then he will be the missing link along with some young pitching like Balester or Willems.

He really sounds like he could follow Kasten here to DC.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

This would be a great signing.  I'd slightly prefer Carlos Zambrano's services for big money, but Andruw would give us a tremendous bat in the middle of our order and the stability at CF for which we've yearned since the Nats moved to DC.

[spidernat]

Is it so bad with the Nats that we've skipped the season and are already talking hot stove?

[shoeshineboy]

Is it so bad with the Nats that we've skipped the season and are already talking hot stove?

Could be for some. But I think we've always done this. Regardless of the standings, it is always worthwhile to look ahead to potential acquisitions, whether they're offseason acquisitions or midseason trades. One can't separate the 2007 season on-field situation from the financial flexibility it was designed to create. The FO is certainly plotting all potential moves going forward, the Farm authority site speculates on draft picks, several players are indefinitely on the trading block, so why not speculate?

I'm not hanging my hat on an acquisition at that level. (Ichiro would be in the same category.) But nothing is impossible, and the fact that the need is there, the money is there, and the admiration is there at the FO level, it is reasonable even if unrealistic.

[tomterp]

But nothing is impossible, and the fact that the need is there, the money is there, and the admiration is there at the FO level, it is reasonable even if unrealistic.

Aw, c'mon Shoe, don't burst my fantasy bubble yet!

[nats2playoffs]

Is it so bad with the Nats that we've skipped the season and are already talking hot stove?

Ladson wrote the article because Jones is a free agent and his relations with these Nationals' personnel might not be common knowledge.  But he sounds like Soriano - he's going to take the best offer and prefers a contender.  It's way too early to speculate.  What if our current rotation gets its act together and we're no longer looking at pitchers? 
 

[shoeshineboy]

Aw, c'mon Shoe, don't burst my fantasy bubble yet!

Hey, I'm not bursting it, I kicking the balloon back up in the air. But that's no guarantee it won't float away.

[sportsfan882]

Please Stan and Jim, No Andruw.  He is vastly overrated. 

[tomterp]

Here's the Baseball Prospectus 2007 projections for center field (top 30), rated by VORP (value over replacement player)

Beltran, Carlos   NYN    53.21
Jones, Andruw   ATL    43.00
Sizemore, Grady   CLE    40.87
Kemp, Matt   LAN    37.19
Young, Chris   ARI    33.15
Milledge, Lastings   NYN    28.39
Baldelli, Rocco   TBA    28.26
Damon, Johnny   NYA    27.92
Cameron, Mike   SDN    26.64
Wells, Vernon   TOR    26.02
Pie, Felix               CHN    25.27
Griffey Jr, Ken   CIN    23.22
Granderson, Curtis   DET    23.11
Denorfia, Chris   CIN    22.88
Edmonds, Jim   SLN    22.29
Crisp, Coco   BOS    21.54
Hunter, Torii   MIN    20.93
Winn, Randy   SFN    20.53
Victorino, Shane   PHI    20.27
Rasmus, Colby   SLN    19.30
Blanco, Gregor   ATL    18.12
Rowand, Aaron   PHI    17.99
Richardson, AntoanSFN    17.27
Byrnes, Eric   ARI    16.61
Church, Ryan   WAS    16.38

[2k6nats]

Kasten has to, and will, spend money this offseason.  I would be willing to say right now that Andruw Jones will sign with the Nats.

[Air Zimmerman]

What are you  sports fan? A.J. is the farthest thing from overrated. He is going to be the hottest commodity this off-season and for good reason. He's got the best glove, and one of the best bats. He's going to come at a high price, but it's good to hear that he is fond of the Nationals. I would love to see A.J. and his Jordan Cleats  in the Navy, Red, and Gold! 

[shoeshineboy]

What are you  sports fan? A.J. is the farthest thing from overrated.  

Personally, I think of him as one of the best CFs ever to play the game. So it's hard to see him as overrated.

Jeff Francoer? Overrated.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Those are really generous projections for Milledge.

[tomterp]

Those are really generous projections for Milledge.

I agree, that raised my eyebrow.  And to one of Shoe's points, Jones is a superb defensive player as well.  The ratings above are for offense only.

[sportsfan882]

I would not want to spend $140 million dollars on a guy who is 30 years old and has a career .266 batting average.  Not to mention he averages 130 strikeouts per season. 

[Dave B]

Having jones would mean about 4 more wins for that nats against the braves.

The only reservation I have is that it MIGHT be hard to justify spending 150 million on one guy.  If Soriano got 136, Jones could get 150, unless the owners spent all their money last year

[KyleScha]

Yeah I'd love Andruw as a Nat...but if he goes for Soriano type money I'm not sure he's worth it.

Also, even if this pitching rotation does decently this year pitching should still be the #1 priority. Partly because even if our guys throw well, many of them have injury history. I think Williams should be able to stick around and be our #5 starter. His past history in the Majors and what we've seen so far of him looks like he can be an effective MLB pitcher if he doesn't let things get to him. I feel Matt Chico by next year will greatly belong in the rotation. I'm worried about the health of Patterson and Hill. It would be terrible if we spend 30-40 million on free agents next year to be able to contend, but then 2 of our best pitchers go down and it all goes to waste.

We need to sign at least 2 players next year to have a shot. We need a huge bat, and an ace. If we get that done, and Patterson + Hill stay relatively healthy we might not have a dissapointing year. Not ready for the playoffs yet, I don't think, but .500 at least.

[shoeshineboy]

I would not want to spend $140 million dollars on a guy who is 30 years old and has a career .266 batting average.  Not to mention he averages 130 strikeouts per season. 

I'd go with you there, but I don't enjoy the idea of spend 140M dollars on any one guy. Still, I would draw the distinction between overpaid and overrated. Soriano money is silly for anyone, and Jones is a better guy to have on your team overall between the two. The k's don't bother me so much because that comes with the territory of being the designated slugger. And BA is not as important as OPS. Combining a great defensive CF with a career OPS of .850 who is good for 30-40 HRs makes him a top commodity.

[nats2playoffs]

I would not want to spend $140 million dollars on a guy who is 30 years old and has a career .266 batting average.  Not to mention he averages 130 strikeouts per season.

I don't see the Nationals spending that kind of money on anybody, especially with the Orioles stealing 90% of their TV revenue.  Soriano is now hitting .205 and has ZERO HRs and ZERO RBI's.  The Cubbies are paying him nearly $20 million per year, for 7 years. 

I take the VORP ratings with a grain of salt, after seeing how unreliable some of them seemed last year.  Based on Fantasy Baseball scoring rules in the Head-to-Head league, I ranked CF's based on 2006 actual results as:

V. Wells   TOR   CF
C. Beltran   NYM   CF
G. Sizemore   CLE   CF
J. Damon   NYY   CF
G. Matthews   TEX   CF
T. Hunter   MIN   CF
A. Jones   ATL   CF
M. Cameron   SD   CF
E. Byrnes   ARI   CF
C. Figgins   ANA   CF
C. Granderson   DET   CF
C. Patterson   BAL   CF
R. Baldelli   TB   CF
J. Pierre   CHC   CF
K. Lofton   LA   CF
W. Taveras   HOU   CF
J. Edmonds   STL   CF
R. Freel   CIN   CF
K. Griffey   CIN   CF
M. Kotsay   OAK   CF
S. Victorino   PHI   CF
A. Rowand   PHI   CF
C. Crisp   BOS   CF
J. Bautista   PIT   CF
S. Finley   SF   CF
J. Gathright   KC   CF
C. Duffy   PIT   CF
A. Amezaga   FLA   CF
C. Sullivan   COL   CF
B. Clark   MIL   CF
B. Anderson   CHW   CF

Byrnes of AZ is ranked 9th, as opposed to 24th on the VORP list; (and look how well he's played.)  All of the OF positions are interchangeable in that league.  I think I used a minimum number of ABs, which excluded Ryan Church and others.  But I ended up drafting him in the last round of the Automated Draft league, by using my own projection.

[metssuck]

If thats what it takes to get him outta the ATL and from killig the NAts.........nah just jokin. In all seriousness, i dunno i think i'll wait till the end of the season befe i judge this. I want to see what Church does and if anybody else in the outfield steps up. Personally i rahter invest in the pitching staff. Thats a bigger concern for me. ANd also, i don't like how vulnerable Andruw looked against the reaking ball. We  don't need another Church in the lineup.

[seadogsrock6]

the nats have to just man-up and spend some money! the teams who spend the most, win! it would be nice to do that, and improve our crrappy, AAA outfield.

[tomterp]

ANd also, i don't like how vulnerable Andruw looked against the reaking ball. We  don't need another Church in the lineup.

LOL, okay, I'll take a lineup with 9 Ryan Church's, you take our existing lineup, guess who wins?