I am sure this has been the toughest stretch of Adam Jones' big league career. With Opening Day less than six weeks away, Jones remains unsigned. From a statistical standpoint, 2018 was Jones' worst full season since breaking in as a regular with the Orioles back in 2008. His 15 home runs and 63 RBIs were career lows as a full-time player for Baltimore.
It was bad timing just before his first-ever foray into free agency. The last time Jones put pen to a contract was in late May 2012, when he was still a season and a half away from qualifying for free agency. That contract kept Jones an Oriole from 2013-2018 and guaranteed him $85.5 million, then a club record.
Since then, only Chris Davis' seven-year, $161 million contract has exceeded Jones' deal. As bad as Davis has been the past three seasons, that was how well Jones' deal worked out for the Birds.
