08 March 2014

The Strange Saga of Chris Jones


Given a choice, Chris Jones decided to return to the Orioles . Photo courtesy of Elaina Ellis / Norfolk Tides.

When the Orioles signed Nelson Cruz, on February 24 of this year, they needed to make room for him on the 40-man roster. To do so, the Orioles designated left-handed pitcher Chris Jones for assignment. Four days later, the Orioles released Jones. Then, on March 3, the Orioles re-signed Jones to a minor-league contract.

It was strange to read that the Orioles released Jones. He was a viable candidate to fill the lefty-in-the-bullpen void caused by Troy Patton's drug suspension. Baseball America had rated Jones as the number 27 prospect in the Orioles system. He turned 25 in September. Granting that he's no Nelson Cruz, teams rarely release a top thirty prospect, especially a top thirty prospect who is ready for the majors, especially a top thirty prospect who is ready for the majors and the incumbent at his position is facing a suspension.

It was even stranger because the Orioles hadn't added Chris Jones to the 40-man roster until November 4. Presumably, they added him to the roster to shield him from either minor-league free agency and/or the Rule 5 draft. Then, before he even had an opportunity to pitch in a spring-training game, they released him. Then, the Orioles re-signed Jones to a minor-league contract just days after releasing him.

In the words of the Buffalo Springfield song For What It's Worth, "There's something happening here // But what it is ain't exactly clear." This has the look of a prearranged deal, in which Jones had agreed to re-sign with the Orioles after a discreet period as a free agent. But why go through all this folderol? Why didn't the Orioles just outright Jones to Norfolk, as they've done so many times with so many other players?

They couldn't. Major league baseball has rules whose essential purpose is to prevent teams from circumventing the Rule 5 draft, rules which govern players eligible for the Rule 5 draft added to the 40-man roster between August 15 and the Rule 5 draft (last year held on December 5). Such players cannot be optioned or outrighted to the minors until 20 days before opening day (this year, March 11). The intent of this rule, of course, is to prevent a team from adding a player to the 40-man roster to shield him from the Rule 5 draft and then removing him from the roster shortly after the draft.

So, if the Orioles decided that Chris Jones had to be the player removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Nelson Cruz, they had no choice but to release him. And if they had entered into an agreement with Jones to re-sign him, then that's a sign of progress in the Orioles front office. In 2012, the Orioles lost an investment precisely because they weren't aware and/or paying attention to these rules.

Kyle Hudson was the Orioles' 4th-round draft pick in 2008; he signed for a $287,500 bonus. He was a "project," a four-sport athlete who focused on baseball late. In 2011, the 24-year-old Hudson hit .297/.382/.333 at Norfolk, and was rewarded with a September call-up in which he got 28 at-bats. Baseball America rated Hudson as the Orioles' #29 prospect before the 2012 season. But because Hudson wasn't on the 40-man roster until his post-August 15 promotion -- he became a Rule-5 protected player. So, on January 10. 2012, when the Orioles tried to outright Hudson off the 40-man roster to make room for Wei-Yin Chen, they discovered that to do so would violate the above rules. Hudson was declared a free agent and signed with the Rangers.

Of course, the loss of Hudson didn't have much of an impact on the Orioles' future; he's nothing more than a pinch-running outfielder, sort of a poor man's Joey Gathright. Nevertheless, it was embarrassing to lose a top-30 prospect coming off a good -- one might say breakthrough -- year because the front office didn't pay attention to rule details. If the Orioles did indeed prearrange to re-sign Chris Jones, then the front office has learned from its prior mistake -- a good thing.

With Troy Patton preparing to serve a 50-game drug suspension to start the season, there was a bullpen job available for a left-handed relief pitcher. There were three obvious candidates for the job -- Jones, free-agent signing Kelvin De La Cruz, and Mike Belfiore. Now that Jones has been removed from the 40-man roster and Belfiore has been optioned to Norfolk, it seems that De La Cruz has become the front-runner.

8 comments:

  1. I thought Patton's suspension was only 25 games. This doesn't change anything about the article, though.

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  2. Is this sort of arrangement completely legal? I mean if someone outside of the organization were to find out could the Orioles face possible punishment for having a behind the curtains deal like this done?

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  3. I apologize for the goof on Patton's suspension.

    As far as the legality goes, players are regularly released from major-league contracts and signed to a minor-league contract in the same organization. If Jones didn't want to re-sign with the Orioles, he didn't have to.

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  4. I'm a little surprised that Caleb Joseph was not added to the 40 man roster in the off season with the great year he had in '13. What's even more surprising is that someone didn't pick him up in the Rule 5, given that he's a catcher who has show some offensive clout.

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  5. Britton seems the front runner to replace Patton.

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  6. We had Kyle Hudson back for 103 games at AA last year. Not too bad with a .386 OBP but no power at all.

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  7. @anon re: Joseph - He is a non-prospect at this point. He does not have the skill to catch at the MLB level and, at 28, he is likely in his prime. His prime being a very good offensive player in AA with a poor ability to earn walks and no position. That does not translate well to the MLB level where he would be a very poor DH.

    @anon re: Britton - There appears to be a lot of fanfare surrounding Britton, which is understandable as he was a darling of the fan base as a younger prospect before performance and injury issues sidetracked him. That said, De La Cruz has looked just as good as Britton so far. Spring training does not mean all that much, but it probably is what is used to discern differences between two marginal pitchers.

    @Paff - Hudson is a good organizational guy who lets prospects play ball. He is nothing more than that. It is very difficult to maintain a high OBP without power because more advanced pitchers are much more capable of painting the black.

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