Not a Hall of Famer...Ever!

An overweight Andruw Jones was the biggest free agent bust of 2008.

Of all the former Dodgers that exist in this world, the one that I would have to say that I simply can’t stand is Andruw Jones.  If there ever existed a person that got away with robbery in the business of baseball, it was Jones.

Many will say that it wasn’t his fault.  Nobody put a gun to Dodgers management and insisted that he sign a $36 million dollar contract.  All that is true.  However; Jones cared little about the Dodgers or Dodger fans by showing up about 40-50 lbs. overweight for his lone Dodger season in 2008.  A season where his futility was so evident that he didn’t even make it into August before being shut down with some type of faux injury.

I had put Andruw Jones out of my mind the last few years.  I hadn't forgotten about the guy, I just dismissed him from my thought process.  Then these tweets apeared on my I-Phone that really got my ire up:

BUSTER OLNEY: Andruw Jones a very interesting HOF candidate, with 10 Gold Gloves, some real peaks.  Told me this yr., he just wants to be more consistent.

BUSTER OLNEY: Career homer No. 431 for Andruw Jones, who ties Cal Ripken for 41st place all-time.

Let me just say, I have decided to “unfollow” Buster Olney on twitter.

Jones continues to be paid by the Dodgers to hit homers as a Yankee.  He did so four times this weekend. (photo by Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News)

Jones hit 4 homers in Boston over the weekend.  That’s one more homer than he hit in a Dodger uniform during the entire 2008 season.  It was a  year where he had 238 plate appearances and hit a putrid .158.  When he drove in 14 runs and had OPS of .505.  It was a year when such Dodgers teammates as Jason Repko (.167), Brad Penny (.192), Chin-lung Hu (.181), Gary Bennett (.190) and Danny Ardoin (.235) out hit him.

This guy was the biggest slug to ever put on a Dodger uniform and he deserved every “boo” that he received.  It wasn't as if Dodger fans didn't give this guy a chance.  He started off slow, and he regressed from there.  The boos came when he obviously wasn't giving any effort.

Now, 4 years after he last wore a Dodger uniform, they continue to pay his salary.  $500,00 of it paid while he was a Ranger, $3.2 million while he was a White Sock, another $6.4 million while a Yankee.  Since Jones signed that deal during Colletti’s third year as Dodger GM, he has hit 63 home runs.  60 of them have been hit in other teams uniforms, all on the Dodgers dime.  What a great guy.  And guess what?  The Dodgers still owe him $12 million.

Frankly, I don’t care what Jones did as a Brave.  I don’t care about his numbers during 1996-2007.  They are good numbers, no doubt about it.  Maybe even HOF caliber.  I'm pretty sure that they were PED induced stats.  When he signed that fat Dodger contract, he decided to take “fat” literally to a new level.  He was lazy and he didn’t care.  The guy had this smirk on his face that told the fan base “screw you,” and if there was ever a player that I thought was purposefully dogging it, it was Jones.

So as Jones excels and receives accolades from some writers out there.  I will forever remind them what a lazy, good for nothing slug he was.  How he was dismissed from a competitive club in August that determined that it was best to let him sit out the rest of the season rather than mess with team chemistry during the pennant stretch.

Lastly, let me just add a comment from my favorite twitter follower on the web.  It’s good ol’ "DodgersGM," who always has a gem or two.  After Olney’s tweet he had this to say:

 DodgersGM:  Andruw Jones’ 11 home runs would lead the Dodgers.  Glad he’s finally earning that contract I gave him.