TAMPA — One of my first exercises in examining borderline Hall of Fame candidates is to compare them to the other high-end players at their position from the era.
It provides context and clarity for me. So when the ballot arrived this year with Bernie Williams on it, I studied center fielders from the past 25 years. Obviously, Ken Griffey Jr. towered above the field.
But what stood out next — besides what wonderful careers Carlos Beltran and Jim Edmonds have had — was the presence of a current Yankee having a better Hall case than Williams.
Andruw Jones has 420 homers and 10 Gold Gloves, which is tied with, among others, Griffey for the second most ever behind only the 12 bestowed Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays. Now the Gold Glove has tended to be a popularity contest in which voters (managers and coaches) have been influenced by players’ offensive abilities. After all, Williams won four Gold Gloves as much for being the cleanup hitter during a dynasty as his actual defensive work.
But Jones stands up to historic scrutiny. Scouts will tell you no one ever read the ball off the bat better than Jones, which allowed him to play singles-robbing shallow yet still glide deep to center to extinguish extra-base hits. And if you need more stats-driven proof, than Jones ranks second all-time at any position in defensive Wins Above Replacement (as compiled on baseballreference.com), sandwiched by Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith. For the record, Williams finished with a negative defensive WAR.
“I don’t think my numbers are there yet to be in the Hall of Fame,” Jones said. “Maybe if I get to 500 homers that would give me a better chance. With the steroid era, though, this is more confusing who gets in and who doesn’t.”
Jones could be helped because he was never strongly associated with steroids, even in the persistent behind-the-scenes whispering prevalent in the sport. Jones said flatly, “I know I never did it.”
Still, he has a borderline case and needs a Cooperstown kick to better solidify his candidacy. Which fits the confident Jones’ intentions just right. He told hitting coach Kevin Long last year to inform Yankees GM Brian Cashman that he was returning in 2012 to take someone’s job and he arrived here looking lean and talking big: “If I have 400 at-bats, I can hit 30 homers and drive in 80 or 90 runs.”
Now history is against him. Jones has not been a full-time player or center fielder since 2007, his final one as a Brave, and not a full-time impact player since 2006. He had a catastrophic 2008 as a Dodger before becoming a useful supplementary player the past three years as a Ranger, White Sox then Yankee, mainly as a specialist against lefty pitching (.866 OPS in that time frame).
And the Yankees re-signed him for that role again after he produced a .924 OPS vs. southpaws last year. The Yankees open against the Rays, who will almost certainly throw southpaws David Price and Matt Moore in the series, and have to deal with a rest of the AL East that has Boston’s Jon Lester, Toronto’s Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil, and a Baltimore team that could have as many as four lefties in the rotation.
But starting at midseason last year when his mother phoned to tell him he stinks, Jones believes he has navigated toward his prime — and not just a specialist against lefties. He watched video of himself, noticed a flaw that he was not triggering his swing mechanism quickly enough and found synchronicity with Long, whose presence he credits as a key reason why he wanted to return. Jones produced a 1.028 OPS in the second half last season.
He had November knee surgery and moved in with someone else coming off knee surgery, Alex Rodriguez. The duo went through a five-day-a-week, five-week boot camp in Miami of running, flexibility, lifting, hitting and fielding by two guys that Jones said, “want to make people stop doubting us.”
Jones also became more devoted to diet, lost 12 pounds and plans to lose 10 more in spring. He said he is going to show Joe Girardi he is still a viable center fielder if needed and — without naming names — he has taken aim at Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher for playing time.
Asked about this, Girardi said, “If Andruw earns playing time, he will play.”
And if he earns playing time, Jones would simultaneously be giving himself a Hall of a better chance at Cooperstown.