Adam Jones' Potential Departure is the Greatest Loss Since Cal Ripken Jr.

There are many way to measure the importance, locally, of a player and the seismic impact of that player departing.  Perhaps one way to look at it would be to go through and see to what extent an individual contributed to a club career-wise.  Below is a year to year look at who was the reigning bWAR leader for time spent with the Orioles.

The list is a pleasant, sometimes hurtful, trip down memory lane.

	Batter	bWAR	Pitcher	bWAR
1954	Cal Abrams	4	Bob Turley	3.5
1955	Cal Abrams	5.8	Jim Wilson	3.5
1956	Gus Triandos	4.1	Bill Wight	4.3
1957	Gus Triandos	7	Connie Johnson	5.8
1958	Gus Triandos	10	Billy O'Dell	7.1
1959	Bob Nieman	11.6	Billy O'Dell	11.1
1960	Gus Triandos	12.9	Hoyt Wilhelm	10.1
1961	Gus Triandos	14	Hoyt Wilhelm	12.9
1962	Brooks Robinson	15.2	Hoyt Wilhelm	15.6
1963	Brooks Robinson	18	Milt Pappas	15.5
1964	Brooks Robinson	26	Milt Pappas	19
1965	Brooks Robinson	30.5	Milt Pappas	21.8
1966	Brooks Robinson	35.1	Steve Barber	17.5
1967	Brooks Robinson	42.8	Steve Barber	17
1968	Brooks Robinson	51.2	Dave McNally	10.2
1969	Brooks Robinson	55.4	Dick Hall	12.6
1970	Brooks Robinson	59.3	Dave McNally	16.4
1971	Brooks Robinson	65.2	Dave McNally	19.5
1972	Brooks Robinson	68.7	Jim Palmer	22.3
1973	Brooks Robinson	72.3	Jim Palmer	28.6
1974	Brooks Robinson	77.3	Jim Palmer	30
1975	Brooks Robinson	79.1	Jim Palmer	38.5
1976	Brooks Robinson	78.6	Jim Palmer	45
1977	Brooks Robinson	78.4	Jim Palmer	52.4
1978	Mark Belanger	40	Jim Palmer	58.8
1979	Mark Belanger	40.7	Jim Palmer	61
1980	Mark Belanger	41.1	Jim Palmer	62.7
1981	Mark Belanger	40.8	Jim Palmer	63.8
1982	Ken Singleton	30	Jim Palmer	68.6
1983	Eddie Murray	32.5	Jim Palmer	68.8
1984	Eddie Murray	39.6	Jim Palmer	68
1985	Eddie Murray	45.2	Mike Flanagan	18.9
1986	Eddie Murray	49.3	Mike Flanagan	20.2
1987	Eddie Murray	53.2	Mike Flanagan	20.7
1988	Eddie Murray	56.4	Scott McGregor	20.2
1989	Cal Ripken Jr.	50.2	Bob Milacki	4.5
1990	Cal Ripken Jr.	57.7	Mark Williamson	5.9
1991	Cal Ripken Jr.	69.3	Gregg Olson	7
1992	Cal Ripken Jr.	73.3	Mike Flanagan	21.9
1993	Cal Ripken Jr.	77.1	Mike Mussina	12
1994	Cal Ripken Jr.	81.1	Mike Mussina	17.5
1995	Cal Ripken Jr.	85	Mike Mussina	23.6
1996	Cal Ripken Jr.	88.8	Mike Mussina	27.2
1997	Cal Ripken Jr.	90.6	Mike Mussina	32.7
1998	Cal Ripken Jr.	92.5	Mike Mussina	37.7
1999	Cal Ripken Jr.	95.2	Mike Mussina	42.1
2000	Cal Ripken Jr.	96.5	Mike Mussina	47.8
2001	Cal Ripken Jr.	95.9	Scott Erickson	14
2002	Mike Bordick	14.5	Scott Erickson	13.2
2003	BJ Surhoff	16.4	Sidney Ponson	12
2004	Rafael Palmeiro	24.2	Sidney Ponson	13.4
2005	Rafael Palmeiro	24.4	Sidney Ponson	12.1
2006	Melvin Mora	25.1	Rodrigo Lopez	9.3
2007	Melvin Mora	27.2	Erik Bedard	12.8
2008	Melvin Mora	29.1	Jeremy Guthrie	8.1
2009	Melvin Mora	29.1	Jeremy Guthrie	10
2010	Brian Roberts	29.2	Jeremy Guthrie	14.5
2011	Brian Roberts	29.3	Jeremy Guthrie	16.2
2012	Brian Roberts	28.2	Jim Johnson	8.7
2013	Brian Roberts	29	Jim Johnson	10
2014	Nick Markakis	25.6	Chris Tillman	8.3
2015	Adam Jones	27.4	Wei-Yin Chen	9.8
2016	Adam Jones	28.8	Chris Tillman	12.7
2017	Adam Jones	31.4	Darren O'Day	11.1
2018	Adam Jones	31.7	Darren O'Day	11.5

 Adam Jones, sitting at 31.7 bWAR, would be the greatest departure of a player based on their Orioles career since Cal Ripken Jr.'s lofty 95.9 bWAR left the Yard.  Perhaps interesting is that if Manny Machado would have finished the season in Baltimore, he would be north of 33 bWAR and take the crown of accomplishment from Jones (based only on this metric).

Regardless, this is a passing of the torch.  As Jones departs, Chris Davis' 16.1 bWAR takes over and he is already a specter of years past.  Beyond Davis is another potential departure in Caleb Joseph with his 4.2 bWAR.  Beyond him? Tim Beckham's 2.4 bWAR.  On the pitching side, Darren O'Day has already departed and this leaves Mychal Givens' 5.3 bWAR reigning supreme.  Dylan Bundy at 4.9 is a shade behind him.

Anyway, Davis' 16.1 would be the lowest value for a leader since Mike Bordick's 14.5 bWAR in 2002.  To find someone who is below Givens' 5.3, you must travel back to 1989's Bob Milacki and his 4.5 value.  In the past, the Orioles have been a club with at least a name of a player who is ingrained in Baltimore.  Sometimes those names were deep, such as Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Palmer, or Brooks Robinson.  Sometimes they were less deep, such as Melvin Mora, Milt Pappas, or Rafael Palmeiro.  Sometimes they were just a whisper in the Inner Harbor breeze, such as Jim Johnson, Mark Williamson, or Connie Johnson.

There might be some whispers next year.