The Detroit Tigers are saying the right things. Question is: are they doing it because that’s what they actually believe or are they doing it as a negotiating ploy?
On Sunday, the Tigers demoted center fielder JaCoby Jones to Triple-A Toledo. It’s no secret New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is looking for outfield help and Jones could certainly fill the void left by Aaron Hicks, who could miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury.
But according to Mlive.com, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch hasn’t given up on Jones.
“My message to him was you’ve got to go get it figured out at the level below. I don’t think he’s a Triple-A player. I think it’s a place to go and find his swing and find his approach. … I think he’ll look back at this as a time in his career where he can kind of reset himself and fight back to being an everyday player. That’s not necessarily something he’s thinking about right now. But I think it will sink in for him. And if he does, we want him back here. We feel he can contribute. But we were getting to the point where (Sunday’s move) was the best thing for us to do.”
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NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty explains why the Yankees might want to give Jones a shot.
Jones comes a bit pricey, considering the Yankees aren’t far from the $210-million luxury tax threshold. He’s making $2.6 million. But he won’t be a free agent until 2024 and with his average exit velocity of 89.2 mph putting him in the 62nd percentile of big-leaguers. But after posting a combined .767 OPS over the last two years, he’s off to a terrible start in 2021, hitting just .170 with two homers and a .460 OPS.
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