The Curious Case of Andruw Jones

What do you think of these two players and their annual performance:



Player A - .267/.345/.505, 31 HR, 28 D, 93 RBI, 9 Gold Gloves, 5.3 WAR, all for one team
Player B - .214/.314/.420, 15 HR, 13 D, 44 RBI 1 Gold Glove, 0.8 WAR for five different teams

The first guy is a borderline Hall of Famer. The second guy is a scrub.

You're never alone with a schizophrenic. Both players are Andruw Jones.

The first Andruw Jones is under 30. Jones entered the Majors with the Braves in 1996 at the age of 19. By 21 he hitting .271, pounding 31 homers and establishing himself as the premier defensive centerfielder in the game. At age 28 he slammed 51 bombs and finished second in the MVP balloting.

Then, in 2007, a terrible thing happened to the Curacao Kid. He turned 30. And with his 20s went his skills. Down like a sack of potatoes.

He slumped to .222/.311/.413 and 26 jacks in his final year in Atlanta. The Dodgers took a two-year, $36 million flyer on him and he rewarded them by batting .158 with three homers in 238 plate appearances. He even lost his defensive chops. L.A. released him and ate $18 million in salary.

The following four years he bounced from Texas to the White Sox to the Yankees, never again an asset in the field, never batting .250 even in a platoon. He continued to hit for power and even improved his walk rate, but by age 35 he was kaput as a Major Leaguer. This past season he took his waning skills to Japan where he delivered a solid performance that's nonetheless unlikely to resuscitate his MLB career.

What's particularly curious is that an examination of Jones in 2006 would have projected a few more peak-variety seasons, a long, slow decline and a Hall of Fame case. Great glove men in premium positions equipped with generous foot speed tend to age supremely well. They tend to be in great shape to begin with, as opposed to, say, lumbering first basemen.They can remain defensive assets by moving to easier positions -- corner outfield in Andruw's case. Their running ability ebbs more gradually than their swing.

None of that protected Andruw Jones. Some have attributed his cliff dive to added weight, others to injuries. Four franchises had the opportunity to diagnose and repair his ballplaying abilities and none unlocked the secret. Jones long ago cashed in his Cooperstown card. His notable membership now will be in the Hall of Head Scratchers.