Adam Jones was acquired in a February 2008 trade with the Seattle Mariners that brought Chris Tillman, George Sherrill, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler to Baltimore with Jones and sent LHP Erik Bedard to Seattle, where he was supposed to be the ace of a staff that featured 21-year-old Felix Hernandez. Jones became a star almost immediately, earning his first of five All Star bids and winning his first of four Gold Glove awards in 2009. He quickly earned a reputation as the face of the Orioles franchise, helping convert a laughing stock of a team into a perennial contender both with his on-field play and his class off the field.
While “The Bedard Trade” certainly made the Orioles look pretty smart, another deal falls on the other end of the spectrum. Chicago Cubs ace and former O’s farmhand Jake Arrieta threw his second career no-hitter last week, dominating the Cincinnati Reds and improving his record over his last 16 starts to 15-0 with a 0.53 ERA and a .185 opponent OBP. The reigning NL Cy Young winner has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, making the Orioles look foolish for trading him in July 2013 for a washed up starting pitcher (Scott Feldman) and a backup catcher (Steve Clevenger).
At the time, both of these trades were seemingly good for both sides. Hindsight is always 20/20 when reevaluating trades years after they took place. Obviously, the future is almost entirely unpredictable.
I was asked an interesting question on Twitter a couple days ago. Would I take back both trades if we could have the current version of Arrieta, instead of the failed-prospect version?
@OriolesFanProbz If we could have get the current version of Arrieta, would you trade the Arrietta Trade for the Bedard Trade?
— Steve ® (@ElBasham) April 22, 2016
Without putting much thought into my answer, I said yes. Having “Jake Arrieta Great Again” at the top of our rotation would certainly be better than having an iffy Chris Tillman. Likewise, removing Jones from an already potent lineup wouldn’t be too much of a loss for the Birds. The more I thought about it, though, the more I second-guessed myself. Jones has been a crucial part of the organization for almost a decade and Tillman has been solid enough, for the most part.
Dominoes could have fallen in so many different directions had the Orioles not acquired Jones and Tillman. Maybe the Orioles would have made a stronger push to sign Matt Holliday when he was the top free agent in 2009. Perhaps a different trade would have been made, supplying different prospects that could have developed into superstars in Baltimore. Who knows?
Because of these thoughts running through my head over the last few days, I’ve taken a lot of time to consider Jones’ current role with the team, which brings me to this week’s Hot Take Tuesday. I feel as though the Orioles are better off without Adam Jones. Right now, at least.
Let me explain.
The center fielder has already missed six games this season with a rib/oblique ailment. Last night, Jones took a healthy hack at an 0-1 slider from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez and immediately grimaced, taking a long walk around the plate before stepping back into the box, watching a change-up for ball one, and grounding out to the pitcher on the next pitch.
If we have learned anything from oblique injuries, it’s that they tend to linger, and, although playing through the pain is possible, it does more harm than good for a player’s statistics. The last thing the Orioles need is for their star center fielder to try playing through his injury, end up rupturing his oblique, or rib cage muscle or whatever, and missing significant time. In the meantime, it would be smart for the O’s to throw Jones on the DL and let him recharge as his body returns to full strength.
Buck Showalter‘s Orioles have the pieces it takes to compete, despite having Jones out of the lineup. Joey Rickard has filled in nicely in center field. Moving Rickard from left field to center will leave more at bats for Nolan Reimold and Hyun Soo Kim, both of whom have swung the bat well in their limited opportunities this year.
Plus, for awhile now, I’ve viewed Adam Jones as one of the more overrated players on the team, but I’ll leave that flaming hot take for another day.
In Jones’ absence this year, the Orioles hold a 5-1 record. Jones is slashing just .208/.283/.313 in 12 games. While Joey Rickard is certainly no Adam Jones, he and the rest of the lineup are good enough that they can survive without Jones – for a bit – especially if Jones continues to play hurt.
