Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones wants better defense in the outfield
If Adam Jones were the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, he would fix a major flaw on the roster; a lack of defense in the outfield.
Adam Jones has been with the Baltimore Orioles long enough to know where their flaws are. And if he were the GM of the Orioles, he would fix the one glaring issue on the roster.
No, it has nothing to do with the starting pitching, and he wouldn’t fix the offense either. The one thing Jones would fix before the Orioles begin the season is the outfield–or lack of defense in the outfield.
“We don’t need more power. I think that’s prevalent. We don’t need more offense. I think we need to improve the outfield defense,” Jones said.
“People want to say always pitching, pitching, pitching. I think we’ve got some (darn) good pitchers right now. They’re young, but they’re maturing. (Kevin) Gausman turned the page, (Dylan) Bundy increased his innings, so I think we’ve got pretty good starting pitching. I just think we need to improve defensively in the outfield. Just get more speed, more athleticism out there.
“There’s always a way to improve. There’s going to be a lot of moves from every organization the next coming weeks because there are a lot of guys who are unsigned.”
The Orioles recently made a trade with the Seattle Mariners to acquire Seth Smith. Not to mention the team already had Hyun Soo Kim on the roster.
However, it’s not enough for Jones and he believes the defense could be better–especially with the rotation the Orioles currently have.
“We don’t have a strikeout pitching staff, so our defense is used quite a bit. And you see our infield defense is unbelievable. We’re still competitive in the outfield, but we just need to get a little bit more athletic in my point of view. I’ve been out there for a while and I’ve seen the changes. Those are just my ideas.”
It’s hard to disagree with Jones regarding the outfield. As the rest of the American League East proved, having a strong defensive outfielder is the difference between winning and losing a ballgame.
The rest of the division has a player that is either a Gold Glove winner or a potential Gold Glover. Ahd having a player with a strong glove is a wonderful luxury to any team:
The Boston Red Sox have Mookie Betts.
The New York Yankees have Brett Gardner.
The Tampa Bay Rays have Kevin Kiermaier.
And the Toronto Blue Jays have Kevin Pillar.
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Other than Jones, none of the new acquisitions in the outfield are known for their defense. And if the Orioles don’t fix that, it could end up being a problem going forward.
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