Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Fatty can’t hit. Waste of $23. Two years/$36 Million??? He makes Juan Pierre look good. Just got into double-digits - in RBI’s! Strikes out 37% of the time. Batting .169! TWO homers.

Here’s what Ron Shandler said going into 2008:

“Lots went wrong in 2007, but the focal point was his power. Most of his BPIs rebounded in the 2nd half, EXCEPT his power. Perhaps most remarkable was that he still had nearly 100 RBIs with his .222 BA. Lotsa oddness. Projection: 89 Runs, 28 HR, 99 RBI, 4 SB, .254 average

Here’s what Baseball Prospectus had to say:

“What’s strange about Jones’s 2007 season is that all he lost were the homers. Look at those lines: 2007 is a typical Andruw Jones season, less 15 homers, five singles, and some intentional walks. His fly-ball rate was unchanged, so it wasn’t that. Now the $90 million question: was it a change in his skills, or just one of those fluke seasons? Given his age and the stability of everything else, lean toward the latter. Despite the down season, Jones was still the best of the winter’s free-agent center fielders, and because of it, a bargain for the Dodgers, who signed him to a two-year $36.2 million contract. Projection: 77 Runs, 29 HR, 92 RBI, 7 SB, .256 average”

Here are other projections from the pre-season:

AVG   R   HR   RBI   SB    Source
--------------------------------
.249  89  33    99   8      Lindy's
.249  95  39   117   5      Fantasy Baseball Guide
.254  --  29    98   4      Fantasy Baseball Magazine
.252  97  36   111   5      Rotowire
.241  87  32    97   5      Fanball
.254  90  42   104   6      Fantasy Baseball Index

Yikes. More recently:

Slumping Dodgers center fielder Andruw Jones did not start for the second successive game, even though he was 4-for-9 lifetime against Kevin Correia with three home runs. He hit for reliever Brian Falkenborg with runners at the corners in the sixth and delivered an RBI single against Sergio Romo to cut the Giants’ lead to 7-6. Manager Joe Torre has given Jones every opportunity to make good in the first year of a $36.2 million, two-year contract, but he can’t afford to wait any longer for him to come around. “We talked, and Joe just told me what he’s going to go with. There’s nothing I can do about it except get the job done when I get the opportunity,” Jones said. “The situation came up, and it felt good just to go out there and get a key hit.”

Jones, a five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner, is 10-for-56 with six RBI in his past 20 games after missing 38 because of an injured right knee that required arthroscopic surgery. “I think there was a sense of urgency all the time with him, based on his own expectations of himself,” Torre said. “He’s a very proud individual and he certainly knows he’s a whole lot better player than he’s shown us. I know it hurts him, but there’s no easy way around it. We’re at a point in the season now where we’re trying to win a pennant.” Consider Jones a stashee in deeper leagues right now, but clearly not someone to trust in your lineup right now. He is not old, but he sure doesn’t swing that bat like he is young anymore. (CBS Sports)

Goodbye, fatty. Good riddance.

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