The Royals have signed outfielder JaCoby Jones to a minor league deal, announcing the move via Twitter. The club also officially announced the re-signing of lefty Richard Lovelady, which had been reported earlier today.
Jones, who had spent his entire career with the Tigers, elected free agency at the end of the regular season. After agreeing to a one-year, $2.65MM contract before the season, Jones got off to a dismal start, posting a meager .170/.210/.250 batting line over 105 plate appearances. He was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in May and was designated for assignment in June.
A high-end athlete and solid defender (he posted 20 defensive runs saved between center and left in 2018, though he followed that up with -14 in 2019), Jones has struggled to establish himself at the plate. Across parts of six seasons, he compiled a .212/.275/.371 triple-slash in 1,195 trips to the plate. His best season came in 2020, when he put up a .268/.333/.515 line (good for a 129 OPS+), albeit in only 30 games. Though he’s shown decent power, he’s struck out at a 32.6% clip for his career (roughly ten points above the big-league average) while walking in only 6% of his trips to the plate.
The former LSU Tiger, who is entering his age-30 season, will look for a fresh start with the Royals, who have a likely quartet of rotating likely outfield starters (Andrew Benintendi, Michael A. Taylor, Hunter Dozier, and Kyle Isbel) in place but will be looking for depth. Barring an injury to any of those four, he’ll likely compete with the left-handed Ryan O’Hearn for a bench spot.
Jacoby was quite the polarizing player. Some seasons he was amazing defensively, some seasons he was terrible.
He slowly got better at the plate but then lost all offensive ability in 2021.
Also: he was in the pirates system for a few years before the tigers acquired him. I believe for joakim soria
You are correct.
Wish him luck as I like how he plays…however he’s injury prone and strikes out too much
JaCoby was just lost at the plate this year. Couldn’t make contact at all. I hoped when they sent him to Toledo he would straighten himself out. Just continued to K there, and got dropped. Wish him luck in KC. Could make a nice platoon with Taylor.
His first years with the Tigers seemed promising, but unlucky injuries always slowed him down. May he have better luck with KC!
Gruß,
BSHH
Great defender. Has two of the best home run robbing catches I’ve ever seen at Comerica. He hasn’t been the same at the plate since he was hit on the hand not once, but twice. Ever since then, he has racked up the strikeouts.
But, I did love to see him play CF. He is a premier defender, for sure.
He seemed a n track with his revamped swing posting an .846 OPS in 2020. Showed up in 2021 like forgot everything and was back to flailing away. Maybe he’ll go back to that swing. Then he’d have to work on staying healthy. Great defender and guy you like to root for.
Love JaCoby. Great field, little hit. Wish him well.
dougdeb@hotmail.com. wasted money by the Royals. Every year they invest on washed up talent looking for a diamond in the ruff. Quit spending money on so so players who will never make the team unless a rash of injuries. If there was a rash of injuries let minor leaguers fill those roles instead.
So I have always felt like he killed us over the years, but his OPS against us is only .745. Oh well, no such thing as a bad minor league contract.
MISSED IT BY THAT [ = ] MUCH !!
According to informed sources, The Marlins were in on JaCoby Jones right up until he signed the deal to join the Royals.. The Marlins made a “strong” offer, but not one that matched the Royals’ financial commitment. The Marlins weren’t the only team to be outbid.
The Minnesota Twins had also been linked to Jones.