Adam Jones, chief negotiator?
That remains to be seen, of course, but no matter the parameters of his new role with the Orioles, one of the reasons he’s suited for any kind of role with the club is a decision he made in May 2012: signing a long-term contract extension with the Orioles.
That has to be one of the most pressing and persistent concerns of the Orioles front office of which he’s now a part. The core that has brought winning baseball back to Baltimore — including Anthony Santander, Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins — is dwindling, and the clock is already ticking on Mike Elias-drafted stars like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and so many others.
Elias’ stock response to questions about extensions is to say it doesn’t serve anyone to talk about them, and he’s probably right, even if that’s no fun for us. Jones, however, has a different perspective. He said he hasn’t had the chance to talk about the topic with Elias, but said it came down to one thing for him: security.
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When describing what the contract extension did for him on the field, he exhaled audibly.
“I got to relax” he said. “I got to breathe. I got to represent a predominantly African American city. I got to bring a culture change to winning. Obviously, we didn’t get to the World Series, but we brought back an attitude, we brought back the angry bird, we brought back a whole different style. It wasn’t just me, but I definitely was one of the catalysts of that. You can’t tell me that you get to be a leader of a team and we’re going to give you a bunch of money — that’s an easy thing for me. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
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When Jones signed his contract extension, the Orioles were off to a hot start and would soon clinch their first playoff bid of the century, but that 2012 season came after years of losing to start Jones’ career. While Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle dealt with some of that losing before, the Orioles basically started winning when Rutschman came up in May 2022, and haven’t stopped as Henderson, Westburg, Cowser and so many others joined.
Throughout that time, eyes have always been pulled out toward the future, given that contract extensions have been exceedingly rare around here. Jones and J.J. Hardy signed extensions to stay with the Orioles in the 2010s, and the club gave big deals to Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo to keep them in town. In that period, plenty of homegrown stars ultimately couldn’t reach deals to stay here and were traded, including Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Kevin Gausman and Trey Mancini.
Many of those came as the team was either about to rebuild or was actively doing so, and now that there’s new ownership that presumably is interested in spending enough to actually complete a contract extension, those conversations are front of mind among fans who want this core to continue at Camden Yards for longer than just a few more years.
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The landscape of many top young players signing extensions with other clubs only feeds that perception, but also works against it. Those extensions serve to thin the pool of players who reach free agency and creates more demand for those who do. That’s why Juan Soto’s massive deal felt bad for Gunnar Henderson’s long-term future here. Jones acknowledged that there’s probably more money out there in free agency for anyone who wants it.
He signed a six-year, $85.5 million extension, and name-checked Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo as his outfield peers who ultimately reached free agency in 2013. Ellsbury signed a seven-year, $153 million deal with the Yankees that proved disastrous, as he couldn’t stay healthy, while Choo signed for seven years and $130 million with Texas.
“They got a lot more money, but if you look at the track record, I got the respect,” Jones said. “And that’s the part that, to me, is the most important. When I walk around the streets of Baltimore, I got the head nod from everybody. Everybody comes up to me and shakes my hand, pats me on the back, and that’s just the respect. They loved the way I played the game. It was real respect, and it was the Oriole Way.”
You’ll remember that Cal Ripken Jr., now a minority owner of the team, spoke of the value of playing his whole career in one place and the “intangible values” in the fall. Now Jones, while acknowledging the life-changing money, has added another layer to it.
I don’t want to sound reductive in saying it still feels like it will come down to money for me. But whatever can help the Orioles eclipse Jones’ contract with one of their new homegrown stars works for me.
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Free Agent of the Week
Dylan Carlson
Let’s go with the one the Orioles just signed: Dylan Carlson.
When I posited last week that the Orioles could add a depth bat that’s left on the market, he felt like someone who would go for a more solid opportunity. It turns out his best one was here. He’s another good option for some right-handed thump, and if the Orioles can help him find some form from the left side of the plate, there could be a lot of value in Carlson.
This feels like an area where the Orioles’ hitting coaches can do some good work. Carlson will be fascinating to watch in spring.
🎙️ On the Podcast
Last week, Paul and I went deep on what it meant for the Orioles to officially lose Anthony Santander, the near-term and long-term outfield situation without him, and who could be part of the long-term solution.
I particularly think the future aspect of that conversation was fascinating because for years, scouts would ask me what the Orioles were going to do with all their outfielders. Now, it seems worth asking if they’re going to have enough of them.
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📰 Further Reading
🌭 The O’s value menu! My daughter Zoe and I had a routine when we’d go to Orioles games this year: ride the escalator to the upper deck, hit the 410 food stand for some cheap hot dogs, then take the elevator back down to find our seats. All that is to say, I am a big fan of the expanded discount concessions the team announced last week. She probably won’t know the difference, but I will.
🔄 Replacing Santander in the aggregate: There were some good nuggets in this piece from Andy as he talked to evaluators about the Orioles’ Anthony Santander replacements.
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