Andruw Jones is, somehow, now 38 years-old. He last played in the bigs in 2012 and didn’t play well. He then went to Japan and put up two pretty good seasons for Rakuten, drawing tons of walks and hitting some homers but hitting for a low average. All of which is about a good as a more-or-less washed up player can muster, really. The display of some classic old man skills which, if you have to decline, is a pretty good way to decline.
He came back to the U.S. for 2015 and couldn’t find a club interested in his services, which is understandable. And which would make one think his career was over. He spoke to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation recently, however, and he’s going to give it one more go:
Andruw Jones confirms to me that he is looking for a major-league opportunity in 2016 after spending time in Japan. Will retire if no offers
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) November 18, 2015
For as much as I like Jones -- it seems like a dream now, but he was the best defensive center fielder I’ve seen in my lifetime -- you have to figure that he’s not going to find work in the bigs. If he’s not willing to go to Korea or play independent ball or something, he’s likely done.
