Should Adam Jones Have a Voice in the Front Office?

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones sent off a firecracker of a tweet a few weeks ago that got everyone in Birdland talking…

Im just going to start going to Peter. Screw the middle men

— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) February 7, 2015

Just 12 simple words sent fans and media into a tailspin wondering what “10” was talking about and really thinking. The cryptic tweet was then explained by Jones yesterday via Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun:

For the past few weeks, Jones has allowed everyone to draw their own conclusions, but he explained this week that the tweet — widely believed to refer to the unhappy Markakis situation — went well beyond that.

“I think that probably was the speculation, but it was just overall,” Jones said. “I think I’ve earned the respect to get a little bit of feeling [from the front office] about what’s going on and what our plans are for the upcoming year … what we’re doing in free agency, what we’re doing with anything. I don’t need to know the ins and outs of everything, but I think I deserve a little bit of respect by signing on for the long haul.”

For me, this has set off a whole new debate. We all knew Jones was likely referencing the front office and owner Peter Angelos with his tweet. It came at a time of tense moments surrounding the organization when Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette was being pursued by the Toronto Blue Jays to join their front office. It’s also quite obvious that Jones was responding to the team allowing Nick Markakis to walk away after nine years in Baltimore to sign with the Atlanta Braves. Pair these two things with the fact that Nelson Cruz walked away this offseason, and you have the makings of an unhappy face of the franchise.

I don’t really know how to feel about this. I lean in one direction, but feel I’m likely in the minority. I question how much a player on any team, not just a baseball team, can or should influence front office decisions.

Baseball is unique in this argument too. We all know LeBron James has had a hand in deciding some of the players he’s taken the court with over the years. I fully believe Peyton Manning has even picked a few of the receivers he’s been tossing the football to over the years. These types of “recruiting” talks are done among players in professional sports quite often these days. It feels different in baseball, though. It’s not something that’s commonly talked about. Players don’t build the teams, GMs do that.

I say this with the understanding that Jones isn’t asking to call the shots, but more expressing a desire to have a direct line to those in the front office. If any player on the current roster WOULD have this power, it’d be Jones. He’s the unquestioned leader of the team and as Schmuck pointed out in his column, the only player signed for as long as Duquette (and Buck Showalter for that matter). You wouldn’t imagine Matt Wieters, Chris Davis or J.J. Hardy asking for this power. It’s Jones. It had to be Jones.

But does signing up for a long term deal years ago give him a say? That’s the question I’m asking.

Should it allow him to have an opinion? Of course it does.

To voice frustration? Most certainly.

To influence roster decisions or help make choices about the construction of the team? I’m not so sure.

Now, we can all make the jokes about the fact that if Jones were in charge, he probably would’ve gotten more ink on the old transactions line this offseason than Duquette did. Get those out of the way. We are talking about a player here. Someone who is paid to go out and perform, not to analyze, scout and project.

I look at this “argument” of sorts, too, with full understanding that this tweet and this desire for “respect” from Jones is such a “Jones” move. He’s vocal, some would even say loud, when it comes to these things (and a lot of others). That’s part of what makes him so polarizing and so loveable. I don’t think it’s a reach to say he has the biggest combination of talent and likeability the O’s have seen since Cal Ripken, Jr. He’s on a fast track to not only the Orioles “Hall of Fame,” but possibly even more. I’m just not sure that gives him any pull in the Warehouse.

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