The Angels haven't halted their pursuit of a power bat, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Garrett Jones of the Pirates and Derrek Lee of the Cubs are two hitters they are monitoring. However, Morosi's sources could not confirm if Tony Reagins & Co. are in active talks for either player.
This certainly isn't the first time we've heard Lee's name linked to the Halos, as they were said to be targeting him early last month. Lee, who turns 35 in September, has a no-trade clause in his contract but might be willing to waive it for the right team. Lee is in the final season of a five-year, $65MM extension he signed in April of 2006. With a .251/.338/.391 line, he's putting the contract year theory to the test.
Jones broke out in 2009 with a slash line of .293/.372/.567 and 21 home runs in 82 games. The 31-year-old has slipped to .273/.336/.427 with 12 home runs so far this season. Jones, who also plays right field, has started 50 games at first base this season. As a late bloomer, Jones is under team control through 2015.
Wow. If the Angels want Garrett Jones, then they better be prepared to hear some outrageous offer from Neal.
As it should be. Jones is a rising star and has such a team-friendly contract.
He’s not a rising star since he’s already 29, but he could provide a consistent power bat in a lineup for maybe the next 5 years.
A number of players have broken out later in their careers (Pena, Bautista). Call me an optimist but I see this type of potential with Jones.
That still doesn’t mean that he is a rising star, since he is 29 he should be hitting his prime right now. And based on this being his prime those numbers he has put up don’t and won’t equal being a star. There are players who have benefited at later ages like the players you mentioned and Nelson Cruz but with Pena all he has is power and defense, his average is one of the worst in the MLB (and he has had terrible seasons ever since his breakout season) and Bautista is lucky that he is just hitting for power because he has a career .238 batting average (and is batting .239) which normally doesn’t equal a ton a home runs. Chances are all these players are going to go downhill from here on out except for Cruz because he is showing that he is more than legit. Don’t look for Jones to be a star in the future especially where his power is down big time from last year and his average is down and he’s not exactly a good fielder.
The alternative according to this post is an aging Lee and his numbers are a lot worse with no up side… Jones has a lot of upside and is on pace for 20 HRS / over 90 RBIs and to his unfortunes, he waited his time behind Justin Morneau for several years before making his way to Pittsburgh.
Who also has an expiring contract and will cost less than Jones will. Oh and he’s also a Gold Glove defender.
Guys who break out really late tend to decline really early. Jones will likely have outlived his usefulness by the time he hits free agency.
Rising star? LOL good one. Last year looking more and more like a fluke.
Are the Angels still interested in Lowell?
I really do think Lowell will be moved to some team this week. The return will be next to nothing but itll at least close the chapter on this unfortunate ending.
Jones would be a perfect fit for the Angels
dan haren for prince fielder 🙂
What happened to Tim Lincecum in a Cardinal’s hat? I liked that.
How dare you?! Go Cubs and Go Timmeh! haha
Good old Bobby Valentine said that “he doesn’t understand the Haren deal for the Angels” and that he expects them to trade Haren for offense.
that acutally could make a ton of sense, if they package haren and some prospects for a bat and a mid level pitcher…or its simply a move to set them up for next season
As much sense as it would make… I don’t see it. This trade isn’t just for this year, but for the future. Remember, he is under contract for two years, with a club option in 2013. That’s three years of Haren, and it’s not like he’s a bad pitcher. Maybe having a bad year, playing for a bad team in a hitter’s park.
There’s no way the Angels go ahead and trade Haren. He, with Weaver, is gonna be as good a 1-2 in the AL in the next couple years.
spandemonium, where’ve you been?! i used to see you around all the time.
Well its good to know you’re still here ThinkBlue. Love to talk Dodgers with you. Long story of why I haven’t been commenting, but I’m back! Good to be back!!!!!
that would be like those stories you hear on Craigslist about someone bartering a 10 dollar glove and getting a 20 dollar watch then going on an on til you some how get to a Porsche. I’ll give you this group for Haren, ok that one worked…I’ll give you Haren for Fielder…Ok that worked… I say run with it…lol
The Giants need to trade for Jones!!
Zach – According to BRef, Jones is only 29.
i would not mind the whitesox trading for jones, a more athletic left handed power bat who can play the corner spots and 1st…IE a young, better, MUCH MUCH stronger mark kotsay
Why not Laroche? AZ will get jobbed again…
If you put something a round Jones he would be much better than his stats show. He had Doumit and Andy LaRoche hitting around him most of the year
the pirates arent trading jones…they finally look like the might keep their good players and build on them….until cashman or epstein come calling for mccutchen next year
I would agree. How many times have you heard the line “We aren’t actively trying to trade but if someone makes us an offer we can’t refuse…” Has any GM really called a team not interested in trading and offered them something they couldn’t refuse?
Yawn
pirates have him controlled for 5 years at no cost
this isn’t happening
just like meek & hanrahan nonsense
guess everyone missed the
‘we aren’t in prospect collection mode anymore’ quote from neal
and they aren’t trading guys they have controlled for multiple years at no cost
it would actually make more sense for them to continue to trade for prospects and this time actually get prospects that can make a big impact in the future. With the players and prospects that they have now they wont compete for a playoff spot for probably at least another 5 to 7 years and by then Garrett Jones will be 34 to 36 and probably not to productive, Evan Meek will be 32 to 34, and Hanrahan will be 34 to 36. If i controlled the Pirates I wouldn’t trade Meek just yet and hope his trade value will build once he becomes a closer if he can continue putting up these numbers but I would attempt to trad Hanrahan and Jones for some good prospects.
I agree with where you are coming from; however, for them to make the most of their trades, they need to move Hanrahan into the closer role so that he has more value and potentially trade him next year at which time they move Meek into the role. Hanrahan has a tremendous arm and he’s as good as the Pirates have had in a lot of years.
They need power arms not lefties that top out at 89…
Five to seven years? If their prospects can’t even crack the majors in four years (one year per level, A->A->AA->AAA) then their farm system is so bad they won’t be a threat then either.
I mean hell, six years is minor league free agency. Either you’re overestimating the timeframe, their farm system is so bad it’s not even worth talking about competing, or they’re not timing their prospects well in terms of arriving roughly the same time and they’ll have a one or two year window. That’s pretty disappointing for a franchise that has been waiting so long just to be better than a laughingstock. If either of the latter two are true they need to keep selling.
A lot of guys skip AAA.
The Angels should have no trouble trading for a bat. They still have all their @#$%ing prospects, even after trading for Haren.
The Haren trade was theft if not an armed robbery. Who is still hating Tony Reagins? I dont understand people who do.
He gets hated on because he doesn’t trade Robb Quinlan for Albert Pujols. It would be a stupid trade anyway… the Q is mighty!
/sarcasm
No GM is 100% good or bad. All of them are shades of grey. I understand people who hate on Reagins, but this was a great, great trade.
Why would Pit. trade Jones…???He is a solid player who is controlable for the next 5 years. He is part of the solution, not a part of the problem there.
alright, yankees! i guess haren wasn’t enough.
i thought it would be a good idea at the beginning of the year to trade garrett jones. now, i’m not so sure. there needs to be experienced players to help younger players mature and learn to play the game the right way. if the right trade came along, yeah, i’d move him. but it would to be something that makes me say wow. maybe 2 ML ready starting pitchers or 1 and a position player. obviously not getting trout. idk. i would listen, but i doubt i’d trade jones.
Why should the pirates trade jones? Dissapoint the city of Pittsburgh again and again. Now I know they aren’t in any contention and probably won’t be for a few years atleast, but give the fans a reason to come out and see SOME decent tallent!
I don’t understand how nova and mccallister weren’t better than what they got. Nova would have been in majors next year and Zachary I say one more year in minors. They could be a 2 and 3 respectively. If I was a d-backs fan I’d be pissed. Astros will prob get more for oswalt lmao
As a Pirates fan, I’ll say this: NO player should be “untouchable”, not even Andrew McCutchen. I understand all the botched “rebuilding”, but if an opportunity presented itself to make the club better then they have to do it.
Forget Lowell, if I was Sox GM, I would see if anyone is interested in David Ortiz. While he has some value.
Leave it to Pirates fans to think that a barely league average player is some sort of superstar. Garrett Jones WAR is currently 0.0…thus he is EXACTLY league average. The dude caught fire after his call-up last year, and while he is still driving in runs, (which is semi impressive considering how bad the Pirates offense has been all year long at getting on base) the power numbers are WAY down and he’s not exactly the best defender. It would be a sell high move…a lot like the Nate McLouth deal…and I wouldn’t mind it one way or another, but we’ll see what happens.
I like your comment that this would be a “sell high move…a lot like the Nake McLouth deal”. Unfortunately, the one thing the Pirates DON’T have is a first baseman to fill in if Jones were traded. (UNLESS our butcher at 3B would be moved to 1B…) When McLouth was traded we had A. McCutchen to step in and play immediately. That is something the Pirates cannot say about 1B — Clement kills me over there AND at the plate, so unless Neal is willing to put a “sink-or-swim” in place for Clement the rest of the season…or plug “The Butcher” in over there instead of 3B…I’d hang on to Jones. I just think, with what the Pirates have, Jones makes them a better team when he’s playing 1B.
Another possibility is playing Crosby at 1B. I like that a lot better than Clement, but would still prefer Jones over anything.
He is considered a “superstar” by the Pirates, and the Pirates shouldn’t move him unless a team is willing to give up a nice package in return.
these guys dont even have as many home runs as napoli this year..not to mention about the same batting average….what would the freakin point be? Everyone thinks that once we get this “big bat” of which these two are not in my eyes, that we will be complete..has anyone else noticed that out bullpen SUCKS this year? im confused yet again
I KNOW THIS IS AN OLD POST NOW BUT…YEA AFTER TODAYS GAME…WOW THANKS FERNANDO RODNEY!! 🙂