Time to Jump On Andruw Jones' Bandwagon
PLUS: Kansas City Makes Surprise Signings in Effort to Escape Oblivion
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Reader Reacts
Dan Schlossberg’s post in the [Dec. 16] IBWAA newsletter about Spring Training contained some misconceptions regarding the upcoming "Spring Breakout" games.
First of all, I think it’s is a fantastic idea, helping to promote the future of baseball and exposing it to fans who otherwise might not see it. Second, it's a nice perk for the top prospects, who might otherwise play in the "broiling sun" in front of no one on the back fields at spring complexes.
The idea of a “broiling sun" is utter nonsense, as most spring weather in both FL and AZ is quite pleasant. I attend 15-20 games in Arizona every spring, with temps usually in the high 70s or low 80s — perfect baseball weather. (Also, some games are played at night.)
Not one of the "Spring Breakout" games is taking away from "precious preparation time," which, in many cases, is done by players in batting cages or bullpens. You have obviously noticed that there aren't a lot of major-leaguers in some spring games, which, yes, is an issue when you are asking fans to pay full price. However, at least in my experience in Arizona, no one seems to mind much. It's baseball, the weather's great and it doesn't matter who wins.
Furthermore, a split squad game is just that -- the squad gets split in two parts, usually one playing at home, the other on the road. That means more playing time -- or dare I say "precious preparation time?”
A "B" game is one that's arranged between the two teams off the regular schedule and often played in the morning, because managers want players to get more work, and the stats don't count. The Cubs did that a couple of times in recent years due to rainouts. They are not the same thing.
Each team plays a handful of split-squad games every spring. The Cubs, for example, have three in 2024. That's hardly a "myriad."
Nothing in the "Spring Breakout" games will take away from anyone's preparation, as those games are IN ADDITION to those already on the schedule. In fact, most players will tell you that they don't need as many spring games as are on the schedule to get ready for the season.
Things are not like they were decades ago when players had to have off-season jobs and would sometimes report to camp out of shape. Now, most players work out much of the off-season and generally just need a few at-bats to get their timing down, or pitching innings to get stretched out. The longer spring schedules these days are profit centers for teams and only incidentally for player preparation.
Lastly, there's exactly zero chance that any team would just up and move Spring Training from FL to AZ or vice versa just because there's an odd number of teams training in each state. There's lots of money involved, building complexes, etc. and everyone seems pretty happy where they are at the present time. Further, when MLB expands to 32 teams, that will be solved because it's very likely one expansion team will be in the east and want to train in Florida with the other in the west and wanting to train in Arizona.
Spring Training is one of my favorite times of baseball. I am excited to see Cubs prospects play White Sox prospects next March. It will enhance my experience and be great for the players. It's one of the better ideas Rob Manfred's come up with in recent years and — trust me — I am not a Manfred fan.
— Al Yellon, Chicago
[Editor’s Note: Al Yellon, an accomplished baseball writer, is certainly entitled to his own opinion. But he’s used to the Arizona climate, which lacks the humidity that makes the Florida sun seem broiling to anyone not seated in the shade — or the press box. He’s right in his description of “B” games but apparently doesn’t see the urgency to have even numbers of teams in both states and lessen the number of “split squads” for which fans are forced to pay full freight. Expansion may be years away but even when it comes, there’s nothing to stop both new teams from training in the same state and exacerbating the existing scheduling problem. Teams do indeed want to make money from exhibition games but often charge exorbitant prices for parking, souvenirs, and concessions. No matter what, though, spring training is still the best part of the baseball calendar. On that, we agree. —D.S.]
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Free agent lefty Blake Snell is the only pitcher to lead the majors in both ERA and walks since earned run average became an official stat in 1913 . . .
Corey Seager of the 2023 World Champion Rangers was the first shortstop to hit three home runs in a World Series . . .
The rich get richer: the Dodgers led both leagues in overall attendance (3,837,079) and average attendance (47,371 per game) . . .
The Oakland A’s averaged 10,275 fans per game at home and 26,711 on the road . . .
With their record team slugging percentage of .501, the ‘23 Braves had a higher mark than Cleveland slugger Jose Ramirez (.500) . . .
Ability to win one-run games helped the Miami Marlins, whose amazing .717 winning percentage in those situations was the best by a National League team since the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates . . .
Paying high doesn’t necessarily translate into wins, as the Mets, Yankees, and Padres proved by missing the playoffs despite owning the top three payrolls of 2023.
Leading Off
And Even MORE Reasons To Enshrine Andruw Jones Without Delay
By Dan Schlossberg
Andruw Jones belongs in Cooperstown.
With the end-of-year deadline for voters to return ballots coming up quickly, it’s important to emphasize the point a little more.
Consider, for example, that the smiling center-fielder from Curacao was led all National League outfielders in putouts six times during his 10 seasons — and ranked in the top three in the four remaining years. During the decade of 1998-2007, when Jones patrolled the middle garden in Atlanta, he had 4,126 outfield putouts — 495 more than any player in baseball.
During 11 full seasons with the Braves, beginning in 1997, his 60.9 WAR (wins against replacement) was better than any position player not named Alex Rodriguez (85.7) or Barry Bonds (79.1).
In his 10 Gold Glove seasons, Jones hit 345 home runs — more than anyone in Gold Glove seasons except for Willie Mays (435), Ken Griffey, Jr. (382), or Mike Schmidt (369). All of them are already in the Hall of Fame.
And perhaps most telling in this Andruw advocacy, he had the best WAR among the Braves five times during the 14-year division title streak that ran from 1991-2005 — even though he didn’t play a full season until 1997.
During that same span, pitcher Greg Maddux topped the team in WAR twice, while J.D. Drew, Ron Gant, Marcus Giles, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Terry Pendleton, and John Smoltz did it once apiece.
Forget that fact that Jones went from the youngest man to homer in a World Series to a forgettable fourth outfielder late in his career. In major-league history, he topped Mays, Roberto Clemente, and every other outfielder in a defensive metric supplied by Baseball-Reference.com.
The site measures the number of runs above or below average a player can produce, using defensive runs saved if available and total zone rating if not.
Jones had 234.7, Clemente 204.8, and Mays 184.5.
Already in the Braves Hall of Fame, Andruw has also had his No. 25 retired. All that remains is a call from the Hall.
After polling 61.3 per cent last year, it’s not inconceivable that he’ll get over the 75 per cent hump when the Class of 2025 voting is announced in January. If not, he’ll have three years of eligibility remaining.
But he shouldn’t have to wait so long.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has covered baseball since 1969. He writes for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams, Here’s The Pitch, and numerous other outlets. E.mail Dan via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Kansas City Royals Take Unexpected Plunge Into Free Agent Market
By Dan Schlossberg
Suddenly realizing they need to make radical changes, the lowly Kansas City Royals have been an active participant in this year’s free agent market.
Who woulda thunk it?
The Royals tied a franchise record with 106 losses, finishing last in the AL Central for the second straight season, and alienated most of the few fans they have left.
After having the eighth-lowest payroll in the majors [$92 million], the team has suddenly spent $65 million in free-agent contracts — after acquiring former 21-game winner Kyle Wright from the Atlanta Braves in an agate-type trade earlier this winter.
Wright, recuperating from shoulder surgery that should cost him all of next season, could become a key cog in a 2025 Kaycee rotation that also includes free-agent signees Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Chris Stratton, and perhaps ancient Zack Greinke, seeking to show his 2-15 record of last season was simply a blip on the radar directing him to Cooperstown.
The club has also inked slugging outfielder/DH Hunter Renfroe and hard-throwing lefty closer Will Smith, who pitched for three different world champions in each of the last three seasons. Infielder Garrett Hampson also signed with Kaycee.
Kansas City’s world championship club of 2015 was devastated by free-agent defections — a reality in an age when players can sell themselves — and changed the club from contender to chump.
But the current American League Central is a weak division and there for the taking.
The Royals realize that and are assembling a solid corps led by All-Star catcher Salvatore Perez, center-fielder Drew Waters, and shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr., who posted a surprise 30/30 season in 2023. The switch-hitting Waters was once compared to Chipper Jones but has yet to realize the potential that once intrigued the Braves.
Witt, 23, led the club with 30 homers, 49 stolen bases, 96 runs batted in, and a .276 batting average, while Perez chipped in with 23 homers and 80 RBI. The Royals also got some pop from MJ Melendez (16 HR) and Michael Massey (15).
But players like Jackie Bradley Jr., Franmil Reyes, and Hunter Dozier were drags on the offense, which had no one hit as high as .280.
The pitching was historically bad, with no one winning more than eight times [Brady Singer] or saving more than 13 [Scott Barlow before he got traded across league lines].
Won-lost records included Zack Greinke’s 2-15 and the 1-10 of fellow right-hander Carlos Hernandez, who at least had more strikeouts than innings pitched.
Ace of the staff Jordan Lyles went 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA. Ouch!
More than two-dozen pitchers tried on Kansas City’s royal blue livery but memories of past championships hardly helped.
Not surprisingly, the Royals ranked 27th among the 30 clubs with a luxury tax payroll of $111,911,761, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
That figure should rise this season with the signings of Lugo, Wacha, Smith, and Renfroe, among others. But don’t expect the team to suddenly reverse its reputation for losing more often than it wins.
Even a slight rise in the division would be noticed. After all, the once-moribund Detroit Tigers made it all the way to second place last summer.
At least the parade of new faces in Kaycee should make the upcoming season more interesting for fans of a franchise that won a World Series as recently as 2015.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is weekend editor of Here’s The Pitch, national baseball writer for forbes.com, and author of 41 baseball books, including a 2024 Hank Aaron biography. Book him for talks by emailing ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
Players who won MVP awards with two franchises since the award was created in 1931: Frank Robinson (Reds, Orioles); Barry Bonds (Pirates, Giants); Pudge Rodriguez (Rangers, Yankees); Jimmie Foxx (Athletics, Red Sox); and Bryce Harper (Nationals, Phillies) . . .
Both Mookie Betts, runner-up to Ronald Acuna, Jr. in the National League voting last fall, and new teammate Shohei Ohtani, signed by the Dodgers as a free agent, could join Robinson as the only men to win MVP trophies in both leagues . . .
Ohtani could become the first player to hit at least 20 homers for both the Angels and Dodgers, a feat just missed by Robinson (50 with the Angels, 19 with the Dodgers) . . .
Thanks to owner Mark Walter, a private equity executive worth $5.8 billion, the Dodgers were able to afford Ohtani’s record 10-year, $700 million contract . . .
Assorted ailments and injuries have kept Ohtani from playing in more than 72 per cent of his major-league games (all with the Angels).
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.