Jones-Cubs

by bolton on Dec 20, 2005 8:24 PM EST

Jacque Jones and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $16 million, three-year contract on Tuesday, one day after the outfielder rejected the Minnesota Twins' offer of salary arbitration.

The 30-year-old Jones hit .249 last season with 23 homers and 73 RBIs, the second straight year his average declined following a pair of .300 seasons. He set career highs in 2002 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this move will not help the Cubs join the White Sox and Red Sox in ending long droughts. They really need some OBP to go with Lee and Ramirez.

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Jones

About time...he is finally gone!

by scarfo on Dec 20, 2005 9:28 PM EST reply actions

Horrible

Its contracts like this that make you wonder if some Gm's even watch baseball games or tapes of the guys they sign.

by goalieguy on Dec 20, 2005 9:43 PM EST reply actions

worse b/c of Dusty

Jones would be a very acceptable platoon performer. But Dusty will play him against southpaws and not move him down in the lineup b/c he's a vet. Same issue the twins had. poooop.

starring Alfonso Soriano as Vinny C in RFK part deux

by natsfan2005 @ Minor League Ball on Dec 20, 2005 9:59 PM EST reply actions

makes sense

That was precisely Joe Sheehan's take on Jones. The part about platoons, not Dusty. :)

by Azteca on Dec 20, 2005 10:43 PM EST up reply actions

Overall - not doing bad

The Cubs have a much improved outfield in my estimation.

Pierre had a low OBP this past year but if you look 2003 and 2004 - it was in the .360 to .370 range and he puts some speed at the top of the line-up.

Jones has had a decline over the last 2 years playing in Minnesota. Wrigley Field is pretty user friendly for players with some pop in their bats. Don't be surprised to see him near 30 HR's next year if he plays a full season. He hit 13 pts better on the road last year than he did at home.

Matt Murton is somebody I like a lot too in the limited time he had last year.

A line-up that looks like this would not be bad:

Pierre CF

Lee 1b
Ramirez 3B
Jones - RF
Murton LF
Barrett C
Cedeno 2b and maybe Vidro
Pitcher

The biggest problem right now in my estimation is that Neifi Perez is the starting SS - that is what concerns me. $16 million for 3 years is not a bad deal considering the kind of money that is being thrown around.

by slickwdb on Dec 20, 2005 10:04 PM EST reply actions

Patterson

I wonder were Patterson fits in, I wouldnt be shocked to see him start in place of Murton (Dusty hates rookies no matter hom much they deserve or earn their playing time)

I've heard patterson rumored in deals but nothing's done yet.

by goalieguy on Dec 20, 2005 10:16 PM EST up reply actions

that's so false

name me the guys Dusty has not played as rookies who proved to be worth a crap. You cannot name one. So please stop perpetuating this myth.

Critique his lineups or use of bullpen, but don't spew this garbage about Dusty not playing rookies.

by So Cal Bob on Dec 21, 2005 1:04 PM EST up reply actions

Your lineup is off

Todd Walker is the Cubs starting 2B and Ronny Cedeno is slated to play short. Neifi on the bench.

by mikew on Dec 20, 2005 11:17 PM EST up reply actions

Walker

According to the Sun-Times Walker is 3rd in the depth chart behind Perez and Hairston.

Thus ends the serious part of my post...

In other news the Sun-Times project D Lee to backup John Mabry at 1st.

http://www.scacchoops.com

by jonpyardi on Dec 21, 2005 11:12 AM EST up reply actions

Slightly off topic

Why doesn't Hairston get more AB's? He's fast and seems to be a competent player. He never seems to be in anyone's long term plans...

If he doesn't watch it, he will be a Dave Roberts type of player that never plays....oh wait...

by akk99 on Dec 21, 2005 6:36 PM EST up reply actions

thank the lord

thank the lord J Jones is gone from MN, i never have to watch those awful at bats again.

I'm just mad he went to the cubbies, what do we even get a comp pick now, it must be like a 3rd or 4th rounders..

blah

by hotshotschamp on Dec 21, 2005 1:55 AM EST reply actions

Eyre, Howry

Bad news because the Cubs pick in the first half of the first round, the first pick they give up is their 2nd. That right now will go to Cle, then the third rounder will go to SF for Eyre. That leaves their 4th to Min for Jones.

What really sucks about this is that a type C free agent (worse than a type B, like Jones) garners a 2nd round supplemental pick no matter what.

Last year the Yankees got the 17th overall pick for type B Lieber.

by tmelander on Dec 21, 2005 3:23 AM EST up reply actions

Hallelujah!

I am so, so sorry for Cubby fans. He'll be booed out of Wrigley.

Twins fan.

by tmelander on Dec 21, 2005 2:55 AM EST reply actions

i thought

the job description for a corner of.

needed. someone to hit, and ah mean HIT the dad-blamed ball HARD, like over the fence FREQUENTLY, and if NOT hitting the ball,scare the pitcher into issuing free passes FREQUENTLY.

oh yea, have a glove that fits your hand.

....

guess not.

by dryice on Dec 21, 2005 6:59 AM EST reply actions

If Johnny Damon gets 52 million

In relative terms - this deal for Jones is not a bad one. Johnny Damon is getting 13 million a year for 4 years. Jones is getting less than 1/2 of that for a 3 year deal. With money being thrown around on mediocrity - this deal is as good as most of them out there.

BTW - forgot Todd Walker at the 2B but either way I feel the issue going into next year is not the OF but rather who plays SS.

by slickwdb on Dec 21, 2005 7:25 AM EST reply actions

it's not about the money so much

it's about the fact this guy can't hit good pitching for crap.

You can't even put him in the lineup against lefty pitchers, he renders useless.

He swings at everything, no discipline, every once in a while he just tags a ball, so you say geeeez why can't he do that more often, but he's not gonna change his ways.

I honestly view Jones loss, as addition by subtraction and was rooting for him to go since the season ended.

Enter Kubel.

by hotshotschamp on Dec 21, 2005 7:33 AM EST reply actions

question for you twin fans.....

I surely don't like this signing but I am praying, reaching, searching for an upside to this signing as I believe this is the second re-incarnation of Corey less the speed or Burnitz less the clubhouse presence. For those that have watched him the past couple of years, what was it about 04 and 05 that differed from the previous 2 or 3 productive years? I mean he went from being respectable against lefties to virtually invisible. Also do you think it will help him out at all if the Cubs slot him in the 2 hole after Pierre and in front of Lee in the hopes he sees better pitches?

Help, Please.

by cincod1 on Dec 21, 2005 10:50 AM EST reply actions

Jones

Upside?: Jones will probably consistently deliver something similar to Patterson's 2004 line. And he's a very good outfielder, about 10 defensive runs better than average. FWIW, he also has a flair for the dramatic (often after failing to do something productive earlier in the game that may have made the dramatic, end-of-game moments unnecesary; but hey, take the good with the bad). Also, throughout his career he's always hit far better outside the Metrodome. You'd think a guy with Jones's profile--left-handed, decent pop, hits a lot of grounders, decent speed--would be custom-made for the dome's artificial turf and hefty-bag right field, but he never took advantage of it. Maybe 81 home games somewhere else will help him.

I don't know what to say about his offense over the past 2 seasons. He's taking more walks, but his power and batting average have decreased while doing so. I always found it interesting that for as much noise as the Twins made about Shannon Stewart's presence and at bats trickling down throughout the entire team, Jacque's clearly an example against that theory. His numbers have slipped considerably since that deal. (Maybe part of it was because the addition of Stewart forced Jacque out of left field--because Stewart's arm isn't good enough for right field--and out of the leadoff spot. Who knows?)

by jianfu on Dec 21, 2005 11:45 AM EST up reply actions

Jones

I wouldn't put anything past him. He has the raw tools to be a productive hitter, but he has a tendency to swing at sliders at the dirt instead of taking walks. If he can hit before D Lee, that in theory could help him, but I'm not sure he has the plate discipline to take advantage of the situation. A change of scenery and a new lineup and perhaps a platoon might do him some good. He has good range and can play all three positions, and his arm, while strong, is not the most accurate. Beyond that, he is durable, is a good clubhouse presence, and will play all out all the time with a smile on his face.

While his numbers are replaceable, I am sorry to see him go. But it was time.

Minnesota Twins - 2006 World Series Champions

by drjim on Dec 21, 2005 12:02 PM EST up reply actions

lead off

Jones hit his best in the lead-off spot because he could take better advantage of his tendancy to swing at the first pitch, assuming it's a fastball. He hit 13 lead-off homers in his two good years, most on first pitch fastballs.

But he never learned to hit the breaking ball, and pitchers learned this and fed him a steady diet of them, especially when he hit down in the order. When he laid off them, he took more walks, but he also struck out looking more. So he stopped laying off them and started swining like Cristan Guzman at pitches in the dirt. Guess the scouts caught up to that trend and that's all anyone threw him. He obliged them with strikeout after strikeout.

Occasionally, a pitcher would hang a breaking ball, as Garcia did in the one hitter he lost against Santana. When they did, Jones would crush it. Most of the time, he got him self out on breaking balls in the dirt. Perhaps he'll get more fastballs in the NL, which he is very good at, especialy from right handed pitchers. But I doubt it. Everyone knows his tendancies by now and he just hasn't made the adjustment to the breaking ball. My guess is, he never will.

Au revoir, Gophair!

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Dec 21, 2005 1:13 PM EST reply actions

Good Point

I failed to remember that before Shannon Stewart came to town Jones lived on first pitch fastballs. The best half season in his career was batting leadoff before Stewart came to town. Nice observation. Maybe batting him #2 would both provide him with a lot of pitches to hit as well as giving Juan Pierre a chance to run around the bases in front of him. The downside to batting him #2 is that he has little or no bat control so its hard for him to move a runner along and have a productive out.

by Terry Ryan Jr on Dec 21, 2005 1:50 PM EST up reply actions