17 May, 2008

Andruw pulling out of it?

Alright, so Andruw Jones hit his second home run of the season Thursday and he had a stretch of four games with 3 RBI (To bring his season total to 7). These are hardly earth-shattering numbers, but still hope seemed to rise again in LA, as fans and members of the organization looked for their huge investment to begin to pay off. The standards of measurement for Andruw Jones have sunk so low that a game with a single walk and no hits has become a decent game for him.
Even with his recent "hot" streak Jones is still batting .172/.282/.281. That's right, you read correctly, Jones' slugging average is .281. Yet those in LA are still holding out hope that Jones can at least amount to something.
While Jones' May numbers (.216/.286/.378) blow away those for April (.155/.283/.250), it is still clear that Andruw's problems run deeper than just a slump.
Baseball Prospectus projected Andruw to bat .256/.344/.486 with a VORP of 27.9 and referred to him as "a bargain for the Dodgers," and "the best of the winter's free-agent center fielders." At the time of the signing it seemed like a safe move because of the fact that the Dodgers were only giving him two seasons. But because of baseball financials they are now forced to play Jones to their own detriment this season and are stuck with him for what could be another miserable season next year.
At this point Jones looks lucky to be on a pace for a season similar to Corey Patterson's 2007 season: .269 /.304/.386 with a VORP of 8.4. The Dodgers may be forced to swallow their pride and eat Jones' contract at some point this season, if they are able to stay competitive despite a more than glaring hole in their sixth spot. Prior to this season it seemed that Jones could only make the Dodger's power deprived offense better, but so far this season he has only pulled it down.
It is time for the Dodgers to seriously begin limiting Jones' playing time. They have enough young talent to fill positions and keep the team competitive. While the team, without Jones, may still be lacking power, they certainly can only get better at reaching base by replacing him.

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