According to Bruce Levine of ESPN the Chicago White Sox have signed outfielder Andruw Jones to a one year contract worth $500K with incentives that could bring the value up to $1.5 million dollars.
Levine writes that the move was done to soften the blow of losing Scott Podsednik to free agency, but that they currently don’t view Jones as a starting outfielder.
The 32-year-old Jones hit .214 last season in 281 at-bats for the Texas Rangers last season, and slugged 17 homeruns and drove in 47 runs, mostly as a designated hitter.
It doesn’t happen often, but Jones completely fell of the baseball map once he reached his 30th birthday. Before that he was considered one of baseball’s best outfielders. When he was 29 years old, Jones hit 41 homeruns and drove in 129 runs while scoring 107 for the Atlanta Braves. The four-time All Star led the NL with 51 homers and 128 RBI the season before that. He has also won ten gold gloves in his career.
His salary takes quite a momentous fall from $14.5 million dollars a year ago.
I has absolutely no interest in Jones going into the off season, but for $500 K, I would have to believe he would have been a solid right handed bat off the bench for the Mets. I’m thinking the Mets will pay a lot more and get a lot less from their eventual fifth outfielder.
