Full transparency, I realize I haven't been Jones' biggest cheerleader. I have written about him a lot and not with high praise. I hold no ill will toward the kid, but I know a lot of people are high on him and his "five tool talent" including many of our readers here at Bleeding Yankee Blue, but I feel differently....and I am not alone.
I don't usually like to use Nightengale as a source these days but, I believe other teams have reservations on Jones. I know I have all season. He's got great promise. I love that he has nice raw power with 14 home runs and 21 stolen bases.... but he's got a high strikeout rate that I just can't ignore. He needs to improve on that plate discipline.
I always say to give credit where credit is due, and I give credit to the work Jones has been putting in lately. In the last month, he has been hitting better and has a .271 BA however, he has struck out in 40 of his last 96 plate appearances so that still needs work. It's baby steps.....but teams look at that and see a 23-year-old kid still in Double-A because he struggles against minor league pitching.
I get why teams the Yankees reached out to balked with Jones. I've been saying it all season and honestly, this is something I really want to be wrong on. MLB released an updated top 100 prospects rankings last week (read HERE) and Jones is no longer on it. I think it makes sense, but it also stings knowing a positive the Yankees were trying to use to sell teams on Jones, is no longer there. Now Jasson Dominguez is the only top 100 prospect the Yankees have.
I said this earlier, the Yankees try to overhype their prospects, and now other teams finally have a recent example. The Yankees sat on Jones with his opportunities for too long....and now he doesn't net the Yankees the value that they wanted. Another Brian Cashman failure.
Just another harsh side of the business. Can the Yankees continue to work on Jones and make him what they need him to be? Possibly. They have time with Dominguez getting MLB opportunities instead of Jones.... but if he doesn't improve on his weaknesses soon, Jones will run out of time quickly.
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