Two years, $36 million, which sounds like a lot to pay per year but probably actually isn't. When most teams sign players like Jones, they sign the player for four or five years and get less and less out of the player as they go along. So getting what should be two good years from Jones for $18 million each is really a pretty decent deal.
Or it would be, if this weren't the Dodgers. What does it say about the market that the two teams who've dropped big bucks on outfielders this winter - the Dodgers and Angels - are among the teams that should need outfielders the least? Well, the Dodgers did have a big problem in the outfield last year because Juan Pierre is terrible, but this move probably won't displace Pierre - I strongly doubt that the Dodgers have the cajones to admit that Pierre's contract is already a debacle, a year after they agreed to it.
Instead, this move could well displace Matt Kemp, who's one of the most promising young outfielders in baseball. Jones immediately upgrades the outfield defense tremendously, but it's still a terrible signing if the Dodgers can't find a place for Kemp to play full time. They could try to trade Andre Ethier, but they're probably not that clever, and will instead dump Kemp for pennies on the dollar or let him rot in a bench role or at Class AAA. If I were the Pirates' GM, I'd be calling Ned Coletti so much, he'd have to change his phone number. Anyone who would play Pierre over Kemp is just begging to be swindled.