Getting to Know Mr. Jones
He has been an Oriole for less than 72 hours, and fans are already envisioning Adam Jones growing up side by side with Nick Markakis and leading the Orioles back to prominence.
Thousands of miles away from his new baseball home, Jones is wondering what his future holds, too. He has already talked to longtime Ravens star Ray Lewis about the linebacker's experiences as a professional athlete in Baltimore. He has met Jim Palmer and knows plenty about Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr., though he's interested in learning more.
Jones, 22, the center fielder who was the centerpiece of the Seattle Mariners' five-player package for ace pitcher Erik Bedard, has his own story to tell.
He didn't start playing baseball until he was 12, and the sport helped keep him out of trouble while growing up in a San Diego neighborhood with a heavy drug and gang culture.
Jones made it out unscathed and undeterred, and, in seemingly no time at all, he became one of baseball's most promising prospects. His meteoric rise has not robbed him of his humility - "I'm just trying to be a piece of the puzzle," he says of his role on his new team - or his youthful exuberance.
Nintendo Wii is the "best invention ever" in Jones' eyes, and his idea of a fun night is playing hide-and-go-seek at his old elementary school.
"He's always down for stuff like that, always out to have fun," said Quintin Berry, a minor league outfielder in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization and Jones' best friend. "I have no doubt in my mind that there is going to be nothing bad said about Adam [in Baltimore]. They are going to love him to death."
On the day the trade was announced, Jones was driving to Las Vegas with his girlfriend. He saw a performance of the Blue Man Group on Friday and went to the Cirque du Soleil the next night.
"It's the last week of vacation," Jones said. "After this, everything is going to be a go."
The waiting ends
Jones is simply relieved this whole ordeal is over. It was his comment to a Venezuelan newspaper reporter, indicating that the trade was final when both sides said it wasn't, that stalled the deal for several days.
Both sides agree that Jones did nothing wrong, but the player paid a serious penalty nonetheless. The premature trade report pushed back his physical examination for almost a week and ultimately forced Jones to forfeit his ticket to the Super Bowl, which was being played close to his home in Arizona.
"They were 48-yard line seats on the Patriots' side," lamented Jones, who instead watched the game from his Baltimore hotel room. "What had to be done, had to be done. It's not the last Super Bowl there's going to be."
Jones is a die-hard Peyton Manning and Indianapolis Colts fan, but if he becomes the player scouts and baseball executives project him to be, that might be overlooked in the city that lost the Colts.
"He's a center-of-diamond prospect, a core player with real star potential," Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said. "Those are the guys that are most difficult to compete for in free agency. Those are the hardest guys to get in the draft. So that's the type of player you want the most."
Jones, the Mariners' first pick in the 2003 draft, was initially a shortstop in the minor leagues but moved to center field to accelerate his path to the majors. He pounded Triple-A pitching last year, hitting .314 with 25 home runs and 84 RBIs in 101 games with Tacoma to earn a promotion to the Mariners. He has hit .230 in 139 big league at-bats over two seasons.
Read More: Meet Mr. Jones: The heart of the deal [Baltimore Sun]
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