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August 13, 2012

Overthinking It

The Adam Jones Extension Revisited

by Ben Lindbergh


The Orioles went 29-18 through May 25th. Since then, they’re two games under .500. You know about the crazy record in one-run games (22-6!), the related crazy record in extra-inning games (12-2!), and the other fluky factors (Pedro Strop’s BABIP!) that have kept a team with a run differential of nearly negative 50 in contention with six weeks of regular season remaining. But for those first two months of the season, something a little less fluky, if equally fleeting, was keeping the Orioles afloat: Adam Jones was on fire.

Jones wasn’t literally on fire. Lighting fires under players is most effective when the flames are metaphorical. In the NBA Jam sense, though, Jones’ bat was burning up. Through the end of May, he hit .314/.365/.618, with 16 home runs. Only Josh Hamilton and Edwin Encarnacion hit more over the same span. Jones’ career high for homers was 25, and he was on pace to blow by that before the end of June. I mentioned the Orioles’ record through May 25th earlier, not just because it made for a convenient arbitrary endpoint, but because the following day, they signed Jones to a six-year, $85.5 million extension. That day, May 26th, was a good day to be an Orioles fan, which is not something you can say about very many days since, oh, 1997 or so. The O’s were in first place, Adam Jones was by far their best player, and he’d agreed to be in Baltimore until 2018. If you looked closely, there wasn’t a lot to like about the 2012 Orioles. But there was plenty to like about Jones.

Still, not everyone approved of the move. BP alum Joe Sheehan summed up the objections of the anti-extension crowd by observing that the Orioles had bought high:

Other BP alum Keith Law pointed out that Jones had hit just as well through the same point in a prior season, only to tail off thereafter:

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<< Previous Article
Premium Article Painting the Black: Sa... (08/13)
<< Previous Column
Overthinking It: What ... (08/10)
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Premium Article Overthinking It: Antho... (08/14)
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Premium Article Bizball: The Kitchen S... (08/13)

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