LOS ANGELES -- Barely one year after making Andruw Jones the highest-paid player in franchise history, the Dodgers released him.
Concluding one of the most stunning yet inexplicable collapses in Major League history, Jones was given his release Thursday in exchange for deferring over the next six years about $16 million of the remaining $21.1 million the Dodgers owe on his two-year, $36.2 million free-agent contract.
Jones becomes a free agent. The Dodgers had two weeks to drum up a trade and spoke to at least two clubs this week, but nothing materialized.
In a statement issued by the club, general manager Ned Colletti said efforts to find a trade partner were unsuccessful.
"Obviously this is a disappointing day for both us and Andruw, as we all had high hopes for him when he signed last year given his track record and everything that we had seen from him in the past and heard about him," said Colletti. "I know that Andruw is also very disappointed in the way things turned out and the best thing to do at this point is to turn the page and we wish him well."
Now if Jones finds another job, the signing club will be responsible for only the Major League minimum salary offset ($400,000), with the Dodgers paying the rest. Speculation has centered on Jones returning to his original team, the Braves. Jones has been working out recently with former Braves teammates at Turner Field.
But MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that the Braves' interest is tepid and, at best, Jones would have to sign a Minor League contract and win a job in Spring Training.
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Edited by Aceis²FresH, January 15, 2009 - 08:55 PM.
