Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones analyzes market as free agency looms

Adam Jones will still play the outfield for the Baltimore Orioles until 2018. However, Jones has been observing a pattern in the free agent market. A pattern he isn’t exactly enjoying.

Adam Jones anticipates being the starting center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles this season. However, he knows that soon enough he’s going to be the one on the free agent market.

In 2018, Jones will find himself in a land of uncertainty, and free agency truly is uncertain when even some of the best players on the market have trouble finding a new home.

It took Mark Trumbo until January to sign with the Orioles.

Matt Wieters, who is considered the top catcher on the market is still a free agent.

Even players like Chris Carter, Pedro Alvarez and Mike Napoli are still looking for work.

For now, Jones is watching how the market unfolds, so he can be prepared by the time he hits free agency two seasons from now.

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Jones said the following while on the “Hot Stove Show” on 105.7 The Fan this week:

"“A few years back, the stats Trumbo put up, he should be getting four or five years, upwards of $18-22 million a year, something like that,” Jones said earlier this week on the “Hot Stove Show” on 105.7 The Fan. “Times have changed, the metrics and all that stuff. How they’re calculating all that stuff is really going into how they’re paying people and it’s crazy how it is.“Free agency the last few years has been different. I think players, myself talking to friends thinking that guys are going to get this and that and they ended up signing for something completely different. One year or two years and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ The market is really, really crazy.“They’re starting to see value in a lot of other things. Billy Beane’s way of thinking is really being implemented in a lot of franchises, and believe it or not, it’s working in certain ways, I believe. But at the end of the day, you’d still like to spend money in some sort of way. I think Dan (Duquette) and Buck (Showalter) and Peter (Angelos), they’re all happy they got him at this price.”"

If this is about getting a player at a price, then what is the right price for Matt Wieters? For Chris Carter? For Mike Napoli? Why are they still on the market while other players came off the board earlier in the offseason?

Jones is unsure what even he will get in the free agent market. However, he knows the window for the Orioles to win a championship is closing. And he along with the rest of the organization want to do whatever it takes to bring home a World Series trophy.

"“Some people tell me, ‘We want a statue of you out there. Hopefully, they’ll make a statue of you out there.’ There’s only one way to get a statue. That’s to win it all. And don’t say anything before that. If you don’t win it all, ain’t no statue. I mean, you can get that little plaque over there on that wall. It would be cool to get that, and maybe the Orioles Hall of Fame. But you’re talking about a statue? You’ve got to do some incredible things and one of them is win.“This is my 10th year and it’s kind of like my own personal dynasty with the Orioles and it would be great with the last few years left to grab a championship. That would be pretty cool to see. I don’t know all the streets downtown, but I know they’ve been renovated for the F-1 races, so it would be cool to have a parade. The Ravens had a great parade back in ‘13. Why not have one of ours in ‘17?”"

Jones knows the Orioles only have a few more winning seasons in them before he hits the free agent market.

Next: Is a Wieters / Orioles reunion out of the question?

Other than wanting a World Series trophy, Jones hopes he doesn’t suffer a derailment when it comes time for him to pick a team.

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