Earlier today, the Pirates announced they have designated Garrett Jones for assignment. They needed to open a 40-man roster spot following a minor trade with the Padres. Jones was going to be non-tendered — Matt Swartz projects him to earn $5.3M through arbitration — so Pittsburgh just sped up the process and cut him loose now rather than wait until next Monday’s deadline.
Jones, 31, hit .233/.289/.419 (97 wRC+) with 15 homers in 440 plate appearances this year, including .241/.295/.435 (103 wRC+) against right-handers. The lefty swinger has hit .264/.324/.486 (122 wRC+) against righties over the last three seasons and can play both right field and first base. Jones can’t hit lefties at all (28 wRC+ since 2011) and his defense is passable at best. His value is tied up exclusively in his power and, lucky for him, his dead pull swing is pretty much tailor made for Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees have tried to acquire Jones before, most notably asking for him in the A.J. Burnett trade talks, so expect them to at least kick the tires as soon as he clears waivers and declares free agency. He could work as a power bat off the bench who sees time in right field and at DH while serving as protection for the increasingly injury prone Mark Teixeira. Jones has been okay at best over the last four years and there’s a chance the 2013 season is an indication he’s about to fall off a cliff. I don’t think this is a no-brainer, but at the right price though, he makes sense for New York as a role player.
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