Garrett Jones and the Pirates had an arbitration hearing yesterday and the three-person panel has ruled in favor of the team, meaning he’ll be paid $2.25 million this season instead of the $2.5 million he requested.
Going through with a hearing over a $250,000 gap is unusual, but Jones is arbitration eligible for the first time at age 30 and after a decade spent in the minors he may have wanted to squeeze out every cent he could. Or try to, at least.
Back when Jones was a minor leaguer in the Twins farm system he rarely produced like someone destined for the majors. He’s been better than expected, but has hit just .245 with a .312 on-base percentage and .422 slugging percentage in 306 games since his out-of-nowhere rookie campaign. Those are sub par numbers for a first baseman/corner outfielder and it’s hard to imagine the Pirates keeping him around next season with another big raise due.
