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The 2014 Seattle Mariners

wazzu31

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I don't think that Jones is a Coco Crisp type player, I compare him more to Otis Nixon. A guys who is extremely fast, doesn't hit bad but also has no power, doesn't walk a whole bunch, doesn't make many errors in the field, but also doesn't always get to the plays either. If the M's can develop him into a .280/.330/.350/.680 player with 10 three baggers and 50 SB a year, then they will be in great shape with that. Hell, I'd take .250/.300/.300/.600 and 50 SB out of that lead off spot right now.

Jones is still learning center field as a defender. He's played a lot more right field than center, and 2014 was only the second time since becoming a pro that he played center more than right. I'm not entirely sure what he played in the field at college (he also pitched) but I do believe it was RF. Be that as it may, he's only played 200 games in center field as a pro, he'll learn the position as he gets more experience.

Wasn't he on pace for a decent season minus the OBP before they pulled the plug on him? I highly doubt he is the "answer" but just from watching the two the team seemed alot better with Jones. Whenever he got on base it seemed to energize the team. He is learning the position which is a positive which is a positive IMO because Adam Jones was a horrendous OF when they put him out there, but in Baltimore he turned into a gold glover.

I guess I just like his potential because he has shown he is at least capable of hitting and fielding in the big leagues as opposed to alot of these other track stars that attempt baseball and they look completely lost.
 

blstoker

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Wasn't he on pace for a decent season minus the OBP before they pulled the plug on him? I highly doubt he is the "answer" but just from watching the two the team seemed alot better with Jones. Whenever he got on base it seemed to energize the team. He is learning the position which is a positive which is a positive IMO because Adam Jones was a horrendous OF when they put him out there, but in Baltimore he turned into a gold glover.

I guess I just like his potential because he has shown he is at least capable of hitting and fielding in the big leagues as opposed to alot of these other track stars that attempt baseball and they look completely lost.

When he was playing every day he was hitting .256/.286/.311/.597, which is better than Almonte (.198/.248/.292/.540) or Jackson (.229/.267/.260/.527). If Jones had played the whole season with the numbers he had that 76 games his pace would have led the team in R (82), 3B (9) and SB (43). Now the team will never know if Jones would have kept that pace the rest of the season, but he was doing pretty well for how raw he is offensively. Actually, he had been one of the few bright spots in our outfield up to that point.
 

BSUSeahawk

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And which is where I get my Coco Crisp comparison. Coco wasn't some stud outfielder, he just used his great athleticism while forming into one. Crisp still has one of the worst throwing arms in baseball nor do I think his instincts are that great either.

The getting on base thing is true, but like I said he is raw. When Crisp first came he basically stood at the plate looking for a walk or trying the Ichiro style of batting. His power came with more repetition and I still believe Jones has shown he has potential for some power because a few balls I saw him hit the other way. Driving the ball the other way is a much better sign of potential power for a younger player than having pull power IMO.

He will have to develop an ability to get on base that he hasn't shown to this point.

And while its not impossible, players generally don't improve on that drastically. Somewhat? Yes.

His defense needs a lot of work too as he was really poor in terms of range.

I just don't see much upside, outside of speed.
 

wazzu31

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He will have to develop an ability to get on base that he hasn't shown to this point.

And while its not impossible, players generally don't improve on that drastically. Somewhat? Yes.

His defense needs a lot of work too as he was really poor in terms of range.

I just don't see much upside, outside of speed.

I get what your saying I just disagree. His defense is better than Adam Jones was when he first played OF for the Rainiers. His offense isn't remotely close but I just fully believe that a guy as raw as he is can be taught how to improve his game especially his approach at the plate. You can coach up basically everything in baseball except the god gifted gifts of power and speed (both in the field and on the mound). But coaching only goes as far as how much the player wants to work at it. Dustin Ackley was the worst 2B in AAA when he came to Tacoma but he was out early everyday working on his fielding and different scenarios where he improved a little each day and his instincts turned him into a near gold glove caliber fielder.
 

SeattleCoug

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Jones looks like he has the ability to be a decent player someday and hopefully going through spring training this year he can iron out some of the rough spots in his game. He has a lot of work to do at the plate and in the field but he does look the part.
 

wazzu31

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I hope noone was misinterpreting that I think Jones will be a star or a long term answer. I just really don't see how the Mariners can look at themselves truthfully and say Austin is the starter next year when I believe Jones outperformed him or was at least close enough to give Jones every opportunity to win the job. Jackson is better defensively (but again I don't think Jackson was near a gold glove caliber at least with the M's) but it always seemed like the team got energized whenever Jones did anything positive. Jackson didn't live up to his hype and that play in Toronto really soured me on him.
 
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