Jones is about to get paid!

[love_that_reefer]

Per MLBTR

Adam Jones is the best player on the first-place team in baseball's most competitive division and the Orioles aren't going to let him slip away. They are nearing a long-term contract extension with the center fielder, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report (all Twitter links).

Jones completed his physical yesterday and the sides are in the process of completing the final details of the contract. The Orioles are making a commitment "well north" of Miguel Tejada's six-year, $72MM contract and Nick Markakis' six-year, $66MM extension, Rosenthal and Morosi report. This means the CAA Sports client will sign the largest contract in Orioles history.

Jones, 26, is earning $6.15MM this year as a second-time arbitration eligible player. The extension will buy out one year of arbitration eligibility and an unknown number of free agent seasons.

Jones is hitting .311/.357/.601 in 196 plate appearances this year. He's on his way to establishing career-highs in home runs (14 so far) and slugging percentage. Though he has a career on-base percentage of .322, his walk rate and on-base percentage are both on the rise.

Earlier this month Dave Cameron of FanGraphs compared Jones' breakout to Matt Kemp's 2011 season and suggested an extension in the $120-140MM range could work for both sides.

Jones is entering his prime and having a good season but I think it's a little ridiculous to compare Jones to Kemp. Kemp is superior in every facet. Jones is doing better in the BB department but he really needs to do a lot better. He is stealing bases at a higher rate this year so that adds value to his game. Not going to judge this til all the details are out but it seems like a good idea for the O's to have Jones and Markakis locked up.

[zodious]

He's not Matt Kemp, but I think he's the beat overall CF in the AL and has the potential of being Matt Kemp. Does that translate into kemp type money? They wouldn't be the first team to pay for potential.

[love_that_reefer]

Hamilton and Granderson might have something to say about that but they are significantly older so I get your point.

[love_that_reefer]

The deal will cover six years and fall in the $85MM range, Rosenthal and Morosi report (on Twitter). This means the deal will buy out Jones' final arbitration year (presumably for $9-10MM) and five free agent seasons at approximately $15MM per year.

Basically it comes out to a little over $14 million per season. Not bad for the O's in that market. They now have a face of the franchise at least. Markakis hasn't really filled that void like I thought he would.

[realmofotalk]

And the pool of big bats due to hit the free agent market keeps drying up. Andre Ethier is going to end up being the Joe Johnson of this year's free agent class, meaning his team will be forced to overpay him to get him to stay because they have no better alternatives.

Fucking yay, we get to be the Atlanta Hawks of baseball.

[Kingdom]

Does that make Kemp Josh Smith and Kershaw Al Horford, and James Loney the ghost of Mike Bibby