July 25, 2018
The Orioles' fire sale continues.
After trading away Manny Machado to the Dodgers and Zach Britton to the Yankees, the next best O's player is the subject of trade rumors — and has ties to the Phillies.
Adam Jones, the speedy outfielder known for making spectacular grabs and occasionally flexing some power, might be the next Baltimore player moved and Philadelphia is once again a tailor-made trade partner. Well sort of.
The Orioles are no doubt familiar with their counterpart's farm system after extensively scouting for the potential Machado deal which doesn't hurt. On MLB Network this morning, (via TBOH), insider Jon Paul Morosi reported that Philadelphia is interested in the outfielder.
.@jonmorosi reporting on MLB Network that the Phillies are interested in Orioles OF Adam Jones.
— PHILLIES TBOH (@FS_TBOH) July 25, 2018
Jones has 10-5 rights, so he would have to approve a trade out of Baltimore
Fancred.com's Jon Heyman also echoed the possibility of a Jones-to-Philly transaction.
If Jones were to waive his limited no-trade clause he would leap to a first-place club that could use his .277 batting average. Jones has also topped 25 home runs in each of his last seven seasons, but has just 10 thus far in 2018.
Currently, the Phillies are extremely thin in their outfield, without much to lean on after starters Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera and Nick Williams. The trio admittedly is playing much better of late, but there isn't a fourth outfielder, technically speaking, on the 25-man roster as of Wednesday.
However, NBCSN's Corey Seidman isn't so sure Jones would be a good fit in Philly:
There are multiple reasons why this would be a strange fit. Jones hasn't played a position other than center field since 2007. That's not to say he couldn't fill in capably in right field or left field, he just hasn't done it. The bigger issue is that Jones is the polar opposite type of offensive player the Phillies seek. He swings at everything. He never walks — he's averaged 24 walks per season since 2013. In terms of a platoon situation, Jones has actually been significantly worse in his career against lefties (.265 BA, .726 OPS) than he has been vs. righties (.282 BA, .793 OPS). The only way this would make sense is if the cost to acquire Jones is very low. Which it could be. He's a free agent after the season and he's having his worst offensive year in a decade.
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