"Orioles are close to signing Adam Jones to an extension"

[OriolesRedskins28]

Dave Cameron, a Mariners fan who vehemently argued against trading Jones for Bedard (even straight-up), provides some thoughts on the deal and the likelihood that Jones improves his walk rate, the one thing every naysayer seems to point out.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/orioles-wisely-lock-up-adam-jones/

Great article. Thanks for that.

The more I think about it, the more ecstatic I become over this extension. I personally am vehemently against the Nationals' extension of Ryan Zimmerman (a phenomenal player, but one who has already had 2 seasons shortened significantly by injuries) through his age 36 season. I'm against the Matt Kemp extension through his age 35 season and am generally against large contracts that keep players past age 33-34 when injuries and defensive decline will decrease their value. But extending Jones only through his age 32 season seems like a fantastic choice to me. By then he will almost surely be a RF and the O's are committed to him for just the right amount of time. Jones seems to have improved his defense and is noted as a hard worker. I love having him as one of the cornerstones of the franchise that young players (Avery, Machado, Schoop etc.) will learn from and look up to. Not to mention the service he provides to the community. Overall a great savvy move, I like DD more and more each day.

[ofahn]

A lot of people would disagree with you that Schoop is a "second tier prospect". There are rumors that some in the organization think he has more upside than Machado. He's off to a slow start at Bowie, but has been picking it up lately. He also had an injury problem during the spring, the jump to AA is supposed to be the hardest in the minors, and he is still young.

I have doubts that Schoop will ever have the impact at the plate that Machado will but he might be a better fielder. Regardless, he'll play 2B so the bat won't be as critical and he has the potential to be a doubles hitter with a decent OBA.

[ofahn]

But extending Jones only through his age 32 season seems like a fantastic choice to me. By then he will almost surely be a RF and the O's are committed to him for just the right amount of time. Jones seems to have improved his defense and is noted as a hard worker.

Frankly, I was amazed when I saw the numbers. I never thought he would accept that kind of deal which is why I felt our best option was to trade him. IMO a good contract is one you can trade the player with the day after its signed. This contract meets that standard. I don't think you could have said the same about the Pujols or Fielder contracts even before they got off to bad starts.

Jones is (not yet) a great player but he has that potential. This is a good day for Orioles fans. Now, LET'S SIGN WIETERS.

[DougDE]

If the deal is indeed 6 years and $85, that seems perfectly reasonable to me. If Jones becomes more of the player he was last year, the O's should at least break even in value. If continues to play like this the O's will definitely come out on top in terms of value. It's hard for this to go wrong for the O's unless Jones suffers an injury.

If those are the numbers I'm quite happy with it. I believe he would command 100 mil or more in free agency so I actually think we got a bit of a discount. I mean Jayson Werth got 127 and he's much older with not a whole lot more proved then Jones

[birdwatcher55]

What is the holdup?? Angelos??

[birdwatcher55]

I'm not convinced either player will be an all-star some day so I wouldn't hesitate to move either in a deal that pushes us over the top at deadline. Bundy would be the only untouchable in our system for my two cents

[CSPitt17130]

I'm not convinced either player will be an all-star some day so I wouldn't hesitate to move either in a deal that pushes us over the top at deadline. Bundy would be the only untouchable in our system for my two cents

Are you talking about Machado and Schoop? Machado is definitely untouchable. All of their better prospects should be because, despite what the records say, I don't feel they should sacrifice the future to make a run this year. There's no reason to do that. Everyone contributing on this team is coming back for at least next season also. Give the guys who may be over-performing an entire season to show that it's not a fluke: Hammel, Chen (who the league could adjust to), let Arrieta, Matusz, and Britton continue to adjust to pitching in the majors, and by the end of next year Bundy and Machado will likely make their debuts. By then, they should know who on the team now is capable of being on a competing team and how many pieces they'd need to add to get there. Relying on Hammel to be a top 10 starting pitcher the rest of the year and assuming that Britton comes back perfectly well and Arrieta and Matusz don't hit a wall in ML development is way too risky to trade prospects to try to compete now.