Another blog entry, another "local baseball product makes good" story. Gotta love it.
This time it's Adam Jones, who was named to the All-Star Game as a reserve outfielder representing the Baltimore Orioles. Jones was the great shortstop and pitcher who, with help from a then-young Bruce Billings and if memory serves right Glenn Swanson, led Morse to the semifinals of the Division I baseball playoffs. The Tigers, who really never had much happening in baseball before Jones showed up and haven't done much since the Billings brothers left, really pressed Rancho Bernardo hard before falling.
Jones was a clearly dominant presence, easily the best baseball player on the field that day or just about any day he showed up. That was back in the day when I had a say in who was selected the CIF Player of the Year, and I pushed really hard for Jones. I wish I could have been more persuasive, because events since have proved out what a great high school ballplayer he was. The award isn't to honor the best pro prospect. It's for the best high school player, no matter whether he plays another inning anywhere. But pro success certainly proves vindicating, and what Jones has done this season makes me feel better for standing up on his behalf.
His stat line as of this writing is .308-12-46 as the regular number two hitter in the Birds lineup. He's struck out only 60 times in nearly 300 at-bats. He's only 23 years old and is exciting an organization that traded P Erik Bedard to get him. There hasn't been much to cheer for during the summer in Baltimore since I was a young adult.
On the other hand, as in the post on Sean O'Sullivan, there's always a downside. Jones was hurt over the weekend when he crashed into the outfield wall chasing down a fly by Kevin Youkilis. That's the same guy Jones stole a home run from a week earlier. It doesn't look too bad, and hopefully he'll be able to make his appearance in St. Louis.
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It's tempting with the Padres back in last place to think that Kevin Towers will start trading everyone in sight since the deadline is only a few weeks away. He started by trading OF Scott Hairston to Oakland Sunday for pitching prospects. But the question becomes who do they trade?
I looked through the Padres roster and, assuming the Padres don't trade pitching, there's no one I want besides OF/1B Kyle Blanks. Gonzalez, of course, but he's not going anywhere. With Peavy on the DL, don't expect any more significant trades unless some GM gets blinded by Kevin Kouzmanoff. Cough, cough, hack. Sure.
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