The Royals are releasing outfielder JaCoby Jones from his minor league contract, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com (Twitter link). The 30-year-old had been with their top affiliate in Omaha after signing a non-roster deal over the offseason.
Jones struggled at the dish over his stint with the Storm Chasers. He suited up in 38 games but hit only .214/.270/.357 with four home runs through 137 trips to the plate. Perhaps even more concerning than the slash line is that he struck out in just over 40% of his plate appearances while only drawing a walk 6.6% of the time. Kansas City added former Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn to the organization on a minors pact last week, and it seems he’ll step in as a center field-capable depth option in Omaha.
While Jones didn’t reach the big leagues with the Royals, he suited up with the division-rival Tigers in each season from 2016-21. A former third-round draftee of the Pirates, the LSU product was Detroit’s primary center fielder for a few seasons. He flashed some power potential and rated well defensively at times, but he posted a higher than average strikeout percentage in every year of his career. Detroit began to curtail his playing time in recent years and eventually outrighted him off their 40-man roster last June.
Jones heads back to free agency in search of a new opportunity. He’ll certainly again be limited to minor league offers after his rough stretch in Omaha, but it seems likely he’ll catch on somewhere as a depth option based on his raw power and athleticism.
Not every career ends when the player wants. He was fun to watch at times but I can’t imagine he ever sniffs a big league roster again. Time to head over seas
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Thank you, Melinda. We’ll let JaCoby know.
That might just change Mr. Jones’ life.
Melinda tell me more about this exciting opportunity!
Jacoby was a very exciting and frustrating player to watch at times in Detroit. Sometimes looked like he was finally putting all of his tools together, other times looked completely over matched. Also struggled with injuries. Hope he can find his footing somewhere.
Great fielder, terrible hitter. Unfortunately the Tiger’s organization is filled with those types.
Lots of marijuana dispensary gigs available back in Michigan.
If he could find someone to fix his swing, increase his contact rate, he’d be a solid 4th outfielder. He has a good glove. Unfortunately, not many people change who they are as a player at his age. But I’m rooting he does.
He just couldn’t layoff the high cheese or the slider away. It’s the problem with most aggressive hitters. It’s his pitch recognition so I don’t think it can be fixed. It’s why hitting is so hard.
He was the Brandon Inge of the Tigers OF.
Now Javy Baez is the Brandon Inge.
It is said that hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to ever do. It makes the feats of guys like Williams, Boggs, Gwynn, Mattingly, Miggy, Rose, and others so incredible
It’s so hard, that even the best ones did so only about 30% of the time when it’s all said and done.
Having watched him in college, I could never understand the reasoning behind moving him off 2B. He has always carried a better than average glove and speed, but his bat was never going to play well as an OF. As a 2B, though, 10-15 homers, 15-20 SBs would’ve been probably average, especially if the glovework was still above average. Injuries have been a problem, too. Hopefully, he can be a late reclamation project for someone.
He’s got 2 home run robbing catches in Comerica. And, I meant absolute theft of the worst kind, especially when you consider its Comerica and how he managed to even get to those balls was a miracle. Haven’t seen anyone play CoPa CF like him.
It’s a shame he could only show flashes of good hitting. I think he started aiming got the fences each time, and that was the end.
Fields like Mays hits like sh#t
Exactly!
Sometimes he made great defensive plays but more often he played average defense.
Maybe he should’ve played 2B because SS wasn’t the answer.
JaCoby should run, not walk, to either the Japanese or Korean leagues
where he would be a star, celebrity and make some cash for himself and his family.
There is talk in KC that Dayton Moore will go down as the worst GM in professional sports history.
I can think of a few worse GMs. Bill Bavasi, Jack Zdruencik, Brodie Van Wagenen…