Garrett Jones

He seems to be a below-average fielder with decent power and average speed but with marginal talent at best. He should be given ~200 AB to prove he can/can’t play in the ML, but I’d be very surprised if he turned out to be anything but a bench player.

I think he should get a chance to play if Lasting struggles when he comes up or Moss/Pearce dont perform. Hes done a pretty good job in the last couple of games.

Yeah, personally I wouldn’t see him getting much time if it weren’t for the fact Moss has underperformed. Russell seems to like him quite a bit and that said, I guess he’s worth playing for the time being. Once Milledge is up, that will change some things if he is consistant.

Despite his 4 strike outs, Garrett Jones has had really good at bats in his games – much better than most of the Pirates. The thing is, he really is a first baseman, and I would expect to see him there when Adam LaRoche gets traded and Lastings Milledge comes up to play left. I think he’ll be here for the rest of the season and duke it out with Pearce for 1B for next year. I think Jones wins that battle and probably is the Pirates’ 1B until Alvarez comes up sometime in a couple of years.

Heck, he already has the same number of HR in four games that Moss has for the entire season.

Yes, and he has the same number as DY, and MORE than Hinske, Vazquez, Diaz or Cutch, and only ONE LESS than Jack, JJ, or Monroe.

Hell, he’s only got TWO less than Luigi.

Yet, you keep throwing Moss in there.

Tiresome, mspirate, tiresome.

I could see Jones at first actually. I had to disagree with a comparison between him and Brad Edlred I read recently. Jones has some speed. The fielding might be an issue, but how many times did hear a radio broadcaster seriously consider that Eldred could lay down a bunt and beat it out? Jones has more tools than some of the other late bloomers we’ve seen wonder by lately. I like Adam LaRoche but if he goes I wouldn’t mind seeing Jones holding first for now.

After I think about it, even if we keep LaRoche (which seems unlikely) and after Milledge comes up, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t use Jones over Moss. If LaRoche goes (and Jones goes to first), I’d actually rather see Pearce get more time than Moss in whatever corner Milledge doesn’t hold down. Of course, I am assuming Milledge will hold down a corner..

If Jones can keep his slugging percentage up, he’s okay in my book. We need some power from somewhere. It’s only been a few games, but I feel more confident when Jones is at the plate.

Baseball Prospectus has a major-league translation for Jones of .283/.323/.477 (which is .800 OPS) based on his AAA numbers. That’s not anything to write home about, but it’s not nuclear waste either and he could be a decent fill-in transition player with Pearce, Moss, and Delwyn Young until better young talent arrives for the Bucs.

Brandon Moss, AAA, career: .282/.359/.485
Garrett Jones, AAA, career: .265/.321/.463

Brandon Moss: Good-to-great OF defender
Garrett Jones: Poor OF defender

Brandon Moss: 25, still improving
Garrett Jones: 28, already at peak

Don’t fall in love with Garrett Jones. It won’t end well.

A lot of people here loved the shit out of Xavier Nady in 2008, wished we hadn’t traded him (“best outfield in baseball!”), etc. Huntington described Moss as a Nady type when the Bay trade was made, and has compared the two on numerous occasions.

Xavier Nady, through age 25: .265/.319/.396 in 449 AB, 93 OPS+
Brandon Moss, through age 25 (to date): .254/.312/.410 in 473 AB, 91 OPS+

But by all means, bail on Moss to make more PT for a AAAA lifer.

The best case scenario for any of the trio of Moss, Pearce, and even Jones is that they out-perform their 4th outfielder/bench player forecast and become a valuable asset. I’d even add Delwyn to the mix as well because he has a good bat. We could have cited stats all day to show why McLouth should have never gotten a starting opportunity, but when he got to the majors his power went up way past what he had shown in the minors. Morgan appeared to be the quintessential pinch-runner/defensive replacement only type as a career minor leaguer up to age 28, but his plate discipline improved this year (along with outstanding defense) to where he is a competent leadoff hitter and was an attractive target to other teams.

The overwhelming odds are that none of them will be average or better players, but the only to find out is to give them shots. We’ve given Moss a lot of opportunities, and he hasn’t capitalized like we had hoped. I’d take that to mean giving Pearce and possibly others more opportunities to see if something is there, but your mileage may vary.

Since I get accused of being a Moss fanboy from time to time, let me just throw this out there. I’m one of the lowest guesses in the thread.

Put him at first after we trade ad. Laroche, we wouldn’t be missing much in avg and I think he’s got a more consistent pop in his bat and actually hustles on ground balls, at least he looks like he wants to compete

I like the idea of a power right fielder. What kind of arm does jones have? I would like a milledge, mcutchen, and jones. With cuth’s speen there would be no such thing as a defensive liability. Playing next to him would make me a good right fielder. Any one else notice our little losing streak since Nyjer left?

Jones doesn’t have a great arm, but I agree – McCutchen would make him look like a better fielder than he is.. And I hope we reserve the bad luck we’ve had since Nyjer was traded – I think we will.
Jones is a natural first baseman, and while he probably won’t be as good as Adam in the field, he might produce the same number of extra base hits and steal a few bases. If and when he starts taking walks, his OBP could be quite a bit less umimpressive.
If Adam goes, move Jones to first, let Moss split time in right with Pearce. If one of those three guys goes cold, shuffle them. Milledge, McCutchen, Moss/Pearce wouldn’t be a bad outfield.