From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Guy Curtright :
Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, whom the Braves had discussed in a possible trade with the Red Sox, was placed on the waiver list Tuesday.
Jones is one of hundreds of players to be put on the waiver list the past few days. Although the move might have been routine, he was caught by surprise when he learned of the latest development.
“I didn’t know,” Jones said after the Braves’ 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday. “I’m not sure I even know what it means.”
“It is all supposed to be confidential, and teams can be reprimanded for making names public,” Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. “I’ve never commented on waivers, and I never will. It is not fair to the teams and the players.”
The slugger and Gold Glove winner (above)can become a free agent after the 2007 season and gains the right to veto a trade in mid-August as a player with 10 years in the majors and at least five with the same team.
Jones has spent his whole career with the Braves, but will be expensive to re-sign when his contract expires. His agent is Scott Boras.
“I want to stay in Atlanta, of course,” Jones said. “I don’t want to move, especially during the season.
“I’ll have to call my agent and see what he knows. I’m sure the talk is all because of my contract situation.”
Added ESPN.com’s Buster Olney,
I seriously doubt the Braves will trade Jones, who has tremendous value right now; as we head toward an offseason in which the likes of Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee may get $65 million or more, Jones at one year and $13.5 million is an incredible bargain.
(ADDENDUM : At least one club has claimed Jones. It now remains to be seen if said team can work out a compensatory package with the Braves.)
The New York Daily News’ Christian Red has some ugly details surrounding the injuries suffered by one of the passengers in the car that hit Duaner Sanchez’ taxi this past Sunday night. Hopefully, Chris “Crash Test Dummy” Russo will be interviewing the driver later today, just to find out for sure what Sanchez did to provoke the collision.
Rangers P Vincente Padilla was charged with DUI on July 7, but the Rangers claim to have only learned of the arrest yesterday. Padilla won two of his four starts in the month since the incident, and there’s no truth to the rumor that Bill Giles is blaming Brett Myers’ wife. If you’re wondering how such an arrest could stay out of the papers for so long, it’s amazing how cooperate the police can be when when you’re not calling them “sugar tits”.
The Spicy Crunchwrap Supreme Munching M.F. wants to know, “Why Is No One Talking About The Dominican Steroid Story?” Well, aside from having appeared in the NY Daily News, San Jose Mercury News, Hartford Courant and been mentioned by the Press Enterprise’s Matt Hurst, I’ve already mentioned the biggest hole in the story ; we’ve got to suspend disbelief in order to buy Bartolo Colon having a personal trainer.