2:45pm: Jones will be attempting a move to the mound, a switch he recently announced on Instagram. Hat tip to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Jones has just a single inning pitched in affiliated ball but was a two-way player in high school.
1:34pm: The Braves have signed infielder Ryder Jones to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Jones will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, though no official announcement has been made.
Jones, 29 in June, has 58 games of major league experience, all with the Giants. 53 of those were in 2017 and then five more the following year, but a dislocated knee ended that latter season. He hit just .184/.250/.316 in those seasons, was outrighted in 2019 and hasn’t been able to make it back to the big leagues since.
Ryder has previously had strong Triple-A results but struggled in 2022. After signing a minor league deal with the White Sox, he got into 67 games for the Charlotte Knights but produced a batting line of .196/.269/.318 while striking out in 32.6% of his plate appearances.
Jones will look to get back on track with his new club. If he does so, he can provide some infield depth, primarily at the corners. He did play three innings at second base last year and pitched an inning of mop-up duty, but otherwise lined up mostly at first and third base. Atlanta has Matt Olson and Austin Riley firmly cemented in those positions at the big league level but they don’t have many depth infielders on the 40-man. Vaughn Grissom and Orlando Arcia could be battling for the shortstop job, with Braden Shewmake also on hand as another middle infielder. Jones gives them an option for the corners that has struggled in recent years but at least has big league experience. If he earns his way back onto the roster, he still has an option and less than one year of MLB service time.
IIRC, he said he was switching over to being a pitcher now, best of luck to him.
He hasnt pitched in over 10 years.
I like this move a little more now that I know he’s trying to come back as a pitcher. It’s a low cost lottery ticket. At first It looked like just another garbage infielder pickup for a guy who clearly can’t hit a lick. The fact that he is trying to pitch and the Braves see a little something in him to make it look possible is a good thing. The option and service time are huge. Pitch him in Triple-A for a year. If he can’t pitch, no big deal. Just release him and he costs nothing. If some way somehow he actually can pitch, the Braves just got 6 years of dirt cheap control of a pitcher who doesn’t have many innings on his arm. It’s a long shot but it costs nothing and 6 years of control is a big payoff for that lotto ticket considering he can still spend a year in the minors trying to prove himself before they even call him up.
Something clicked for some scout last year. At some point during the season Ryder came in to pitch in mop up duty. I guess a scout saw potential. I agree this is 100% a low cost lottery ticket.
According to Giant’s beat writer Alex Pavlovic, this is correct.
I think their source is Ryder Jones’ instagram…where he posted that he will be pitching.
But he’s not.
Bring back #AlexEats
Shewmake finished last year with a bad injury and might not be ready serve as depth early, so getting more MI depth is a good idea.
Sick name
FOREVER GIANT
Also USF Don!
Ryder, Strider . . . maybe add a Leiter.
Don’t forget Snyder.
Let’s keep it going!
I don’t think that rhymes.
How about….. Reiter.
Be in bad taste if we don’t mention Crider.
I was sorta going for current ballplayers, but I think we already emptied that pool.
Haha! Yeah, started hot and came to a frigid halt.
Ryder? I barely knew ‘er!
I’ll never full understand teams doing this at this stage in his career. Seems like they should just go with a younger high school pitcher and hope for better upside