The Orioles have taken the field for Grapefruit League action in Sarasota, but the most consequential contest of spring training seems to be taking place in the clubhouse. Center Fielder Adam Jones is making a public play to get more info from team executives. As the most stable piece of an outfield in transition, he’s the kind of guy you probably want to keep happy.
In early February, Jones sent a tweet that indicated he felt like someone in the front office wasn’t being straight with him.
Im just going to start going to Peter. Screw the middle men
— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) February 7, 2015
The “Peter” is team owner Peter Angelos. The tweet got a lot of attention, but could’ve dropped once the team started playing again. Instead, Jones is escalating the campaign. This week, he told The Baltimore Sun’s Peter Schmuck what he meant.
“If you say I’m the face of the franchise, I think I would like a little bit of information about what’s going on instead of being surprised by every move made,” Jones said. “The source of it (the tweet) was, I wanted communication. I want to be able to talk.”
In the background is the O’s decision to let Nick Markakis sign with the Braves. Jones is close with Markakis. After Markakis called out the Orioles for being loose with the truth last week, the Jones said he was glad his longtime outfield mate said something. Jones told Schmuck that his comments weren’t directly about the Markakis situation, but it probably didn’t help. The team also let home run hero Nelson Cruz go to another team, losing yet another cog that helped the team win the AL East last year.
Given the chance to walk back the statement on Wednesday, Skipper Buck Showalter underlined the fact that that Jones is “very sincere,” according to MASN.
“He doesn’t do a lot of talking. When he says something, he means it. Whether you completely agree with every aspect of it … But he means it and he’s thought it out,” Showalter said.
The executives are used to making offseason moves. Seems like it’s time for them to make one in-house.
