Andruw Jones

Sometimes certain things can seem so obvious that we don't think they even need to be said, or, for that matter, justified.

It’s safe to say that Andruw Jones has been one of the most disappointing baseball players in recent memory.

Just five years ago, Jones was in the middle of a fantastic season wherein he hit 51 homers with a .922 OPS (despite a .240 BABIP) and was worth 8.3 WAR. As recently as 2007, he slammed 26 long balls while driving in 94 and accumulating 3.8 WAR.

Then disaster struck.

The White Sox have won ten games in a row, which is their longest winning streak since 1976. When I wrote my article just over a month ago, I was about to give up on the White Sox, but they have proved me wrong and I will now react to my past article .

Five Reason to Give Up

Adam Dunn finally made a splash.  The Mets finally tried Jose Reyes hitting third.  Tim Lincecum proved again why he’s the best pitcher in the game. 

Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

On Tuesday the Dodgers dealt Juan Pierre to the White Sox for two pitching prospects to be named later.  While the transaction will cost the Dodgers their fourth outfielder (who had a successful 2009 season), they will save about $8 million.  The deal, yet again, exemplifies this off-season's plan for the Dodgers: the No Improvement Plan.

The Chicago White Sox have signed 32-year-old outfielder Andruw Jones.

If this was 2006, one could consider this a blockbuster signing.  But three years is a long time in Major League Baseball and in those three years, the 10-time Gold-Glover has seen his stock plummet.

A five-tool player once destined for the hallowed halls is no longer.  Currently, Jones is relegated to sharing outfield duty on an aging White Sox team.

In 2006, Jones led the Atlanta Braves with 41 home runs and 129 RBI.  In the four years since, he has combined to hit 46 homers to go with 147 RBI.

John Lackey. Matt Holliday. Jose Valverde. In a weak free-agent class for 2009-2010, those men stand out as the leaders of the mediocre pack, and well deserve the publicity they have already received and will receive throughout the next month.

As all students of the game know, however, there are always unknowns, always surprises. Each season, there are players who unexpectedly make an impact in a comeback capacity or after having been dispatched into baseball abyss due to injury or ineffectiveness.

The Philadelphia Phillies have reached out to the Texas Rangers for a possible trade involving Andruw Jones, according to a few online sources and Chris DiFrancesco, a fellow Bleacher Report writer.

This comes just a day after the news of Geoff Jenkins' release from the Phillies.

Gary Sheffield was also released yesterday from Detroit. Hours after his release, news broke that the Phillies had been in contact with Sheffield's agent.

On Sunday, Rangers GM Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington sat down with 11-time Gold Glove outfielder Andruw Jones to talk about his future with the team.

During the offseason, Jones signed a minor league contract that would pay him a base salary of $500,000 and up to $1 million in incentives. 

In that contract, Jones had an opt-out clause if he was not placed on the Rangers 25-man roster by today, then he could get out of the contract in hopes of making another major league team.