ATLANTA – Quick, name the last player not named Andruw Jones to patrol center field for the Atlanta Braves on a consistent basis.
Braves fans may remember it was Marquis Grissom – who gloved Carlos Baerga’s fly ball for the final out of the 1995 World Series. Grissom manned center field during 1996, the year Jones started by playing at Class A Durham. By October 1996, Jones was belting two home runs in Game 1 of the World Series, and center field was his to keep.
Until now.
The Braves allowed Jones to leave as a free agent following last season, a season in which the stubborn slugger hit an abysmal .222 (including a not-so-stellar .143 in June and .207 in September). Now the property of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 30-year-old looks to bounce back from the worst season of his career.
But even had Jones produced for the Braves in 2007, it’s likely he would’ve donned a new uniform this spring anyway. His agent, Scott Boras, speculated it would take a seven-year, $140-million deal to lock up Jones, and the Braves were in no position to invest that much money on an aging outfielder who – despite his once-in-a-generation defense – already has lost a step in center.
So it’s on to the future, and the future is close.
Whiz-kid Jordan Schafer appears ready to be the next Braves center field star. The 21-year-old turned plenty of heads with his play at Class A Myrtle Beach and Rome in 2007, hitting .312 in 136 games with 15 homers, 63 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
Schafer, after an impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League (.324 average in 105 at-bats), will get a long look in spring training. The downside is his lack of experience. The jump from Class A to Class AA, some will argue, is the biggest jump a prospect has to make. If you can hit at Class AA, you can play in the bigs. Just ask Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann, two mainstays of the Atlanta lineup who made the leap from Double-A to the majors in 2005.
Schafer has yet to play above Class A. Josh Anderson, meanwhile, hit .358 in 21 games with the Astros in September and was penciled into their lineup for 2008 before the Braves stole him from Houston for little-used pitcher Oscar Villarreal. Anderson, 25, hit .273 with 40 stolen bases at Class AAA Round Rock last season, and swiped 79 bases in Class A in 2004.
Anderson definitely will get a shot to win the job in center. The Braves still may pull in a cheap veteran to man the position for one year (Corey Patterson and Mark Kotsay have been mentioned; forget Coco Crisp, the Red Sox want far too much in return). Otherwise, it’s Anderson and Schafer in the spotlight as spring begins.
Nobody expects either of them to replace Jones, especially on the defensive end. The greatest defensive outfielder of this generation, Jones owns 10 Gold Gloves. He’s only three seasons removed from a 51-homer, 128-RBI campaign in 2005, a year in which he carried the Braves to the NL East title and finished second in the NL MVP race.
But the time has come for Jones and the Braves to part ways. His lack of willingness to hit to the opposite field, his lack of production in the clutch (.231 with runners in scoring position last season; not exactly optimal results from your cleanup hitter) and the ever-escalating demands of Boras made it virtually impossible for Jones to remain a Brave.
And so, it’s off to Tinseltown for Jones, who should be received warmly when the Dodgers come to Turner Field for their only visit to Atlanta April 18-20. After all, Jones played hurt, played almost every day and was a key component on 10 division championships and two NL pennant-winning teams during his tenure with the Braves.
Now, that’s history. Anderson and Schafer get their chance. And the eyes of Braves Nation will watch their every move in the swaying Florida breeze this spring.
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Written by Bud L. Ellis - Visit Website
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