Extension Candidate: Adam Jones

The 2018 season is going to be a pivotal one for the Baltimore Orioles, an organization that currently has a lot of question marks, and likely a cloudy future. Following the 2018 season, the Orioles will not only lose their manager, Buck Showalter, and General Manager, Dan Duquette, after their contracts expire, but a lot of their core as well. In addition, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Zach Britton, and Brad Brach will all be hitting free agency.

Since the future is so cloudy for the organization given the question marks heading into this season and the state of the Orioles farm system, now is the time to add a bit of clarity by extending a key player from the group who will be entering free agency. That player is centerfielder, Adam Jones.

Jones, who currently has a little over 10 years of MLB service time under his belt, will turn 33 in August. He is set to make a little over $17.3 million dollars this season and has long been a staple for the Orioles dating back to 2008 when the team acquired him from the Seattle Mariners.

During that span, he has been named an All-Star 5 different times and won 4 Gold Gloves along with a Silver Slugger Award in 2013. Furthermore, Jones has been a very productive hitter and made a name for himself offensively as he helped carry the Orioles to the postseason in 2012, 2014, and 2016. Throughout his 10-years with Baltimore, Jones has hit: .279/.319/.463 over 5,805 at bats with 1,618 hits, 270 doubles, 27 triples, 248 home runs, 803 RBI, 83 stolen bases, 279 walks, and 1,158 strikeouts. That is the most home runs among any Orioles hitter dating back to 2008 and the most RBI as well.

In that span, he also has a cumulative WAR of 28.8, which leads all Orioles hitters dating back to the 2008 season, and a Weight Runs Created Plus (wRC+) rate of 109, which ranks fifth among all Orioles hitters, over that span. To say Jones has been a valuable asset for the Orioles would be a tremendous understatement especially when you look at those last two figures.

For Orioles fans, many know that the future is quite gloomy and don't quite understand the direction the team is heading in. Dan Duquette and Company have stated that they wish to contend this coming season, but as it stands right now, the team only has two legitimate starting pitchers and are in a very competitive division with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays all of whom are much better on paper.

Given the uncertainty and the confusion for the fans regarding the team's direction, now is the time for Orioles owner, Peter Angelos, to step up and extend Adam Jones who is easily a franchise icon. Jones is very comfortable playing at Camden Yards, he already is familiar with playing in the AL East, and he is still a very productive hitter.

Sure, Jones will turn 32 this coming August, but he actually had better stats last season compared to during his age 30 season. For instance, in 2016 over 619 at bats, Jones recorded a .310 OBP along with a .436 slugging percentage. Last season, over a smaller sample size (597 at bats), Jones recorded a .322 OBP along with a .466 slugging percentage. Also, he had more hits last season (170) compared to (164) in 2016 and more doubles (28) versus (19) during the 2016 season. Even his Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) rate last season was up (3.8) versus (2.1) during 2016.

From a team perspective, the Orioles would benefit tremendously as well as they have several young players that could look up to Jones for leadership and view him as a great clubhouse guy. In terms of payroll, the team could easily afford an extension. Currently, the Orioles are slated to have an Opening Day payroll of a little more than $135 million dollars after benefits and the 40-man roster salaries are taken into account. Come 2019, that amount drops to $60 million dollars followed by $40.2 million in 2020 and $40.7 million in 2021.

In regards to a type of deal that Baltimore could look to lock Adam Jones up with, look no further than the deal that Justin Upton of the Angels currently has. Earlier this winter, the Angels added on a fifth year to Upton's contract to give him an overall value of 5-years, $106 million dollars. Baltimore could look to structure a deal similar to that and potentially include an opt-out three years into the contract when Jones would turn 36. A five-year deal would carry Jones through his age 38 season unless of course it does feature the aforementioned opt-out. The Annual Average Value (AAV) of the contract may need to be higher, but that is the type of contract they could use as a model.

Either way, if the Orioles want to have any certainty moving forward, they need to lock down Adam Jones now while they have a chance before they potentially lose a franchise icon and easily their most productive hitter dating back to the 2008 season when Jones joined the organization. Not only will it make the fans happy, it will provide a huge asset for the team and a true clubhouse figure that young players can look up to.