Who Claimed Andruw Jones?

Big question today, thanks to ESPN, is that Andruw Jones has been claimed on waivers. It's now in Schuerholz' court whether or not to trade him to that team. Yeah, it's ESPN spouting off trying to scratch out a news story -- Atlanta isn't going to just dump him, and will likely just pull him back from the waiver wire. But, hey, ESPN has done their job -- they got folks talking.

So, I thought I'd throw my little voice into the mix. It may be delusional to believe that the M's would be that team, and that they have any chance of swinging a deal. Especially since we don't have a pot of players in the system that come anywhere close to the package reportedly asked from Boston. I do believe the chat went something like this:

Stein_NOT_Stien: Hello, John! Just browsing today. How much for that Andruw guy you have there?
No_SchuerHOLZ_Barred: Welcome back, Theo! How's that Marte workin' out for ya? Oh, yeah. That's right. You sold it for a box of Coco Crisp.
Stein_NOT_Stien: Yep. Worked out pretty well, I suppose. Okay, maybe not. I'm interested in looking at Jones to cover CF. How much we lookin' at?
No_SchuerHOLZ_Barred: Well, my kids used to like Coco Crisp every morning. That Geoduck you dug up from Puyallup is a pretty good pitcher, and my granddaughter heard that a new Hansen CD is in the works. That's a pretty good start.
Stein_NOT_Stien: Hmm. Well, 3 is bigger than 1. Even I know that. Sounds like spending $20 for a gallon of milk. I s'pose we'll have to think about that one.

Even though imitation is a form of flattery, these guys truly are inimitable. I'll let them corner the market on that humor genre. My mind is already on vacation -- I'm taking a scheduled week off from work for the first time in four years next week. Yeah. I need it.

But going back to this for a second (if you haven't already clicked your "Back" button). Would Andruw Jones be a good idea? I've been on record as being a HUGE Andruw Jones supporter. He's one of my top-10 favorite players, actually, and his park-adjusted 116 career OPS would probably still do OK transitioning from the NL to the AL. Being a righty slugger, though, coming into Safeco from the NL, there's certainly a chance that the power numbers would be affected. More saber-inclined folks could give their projections to help determine a risk level.

It may be a higher-risk move that isn't worth the potential reward (especially since he's on the bad end of the typical baseball player peak), but Andruw Jones would help win the M's their next pennant. His numbers may suffer a little, but I believe he's still a legit and proven-enough power hitter to be that outfielder with pop and gold-glove caliber defense that the M's could use.

I know it's delusional to think that it would even come close to happening. With the non-waiver deadline having passed, we couldn't trade Atlanta anything they'd want for him. But I said it before his 2005 explosion -- Andruw Jones would be a great guy to have on the M's roster. He's one of the few guys I'd strongly consider overpaying in a trade for. A lot of people disagree with me, and that's fine.