The trade deadline has officially passed and the Phillies were able to cash in with a few acquisitions that should help them over the last two months of the season. Philadelphia was able to get second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, catcher Wilson Ramos and left-handed relief pitcher Aaron Loup.
While those players should give the team a boost to their particular positions, the Phillies were not able to acquire a fourth outfielder.
Over the last couple of weeks, Philadelphia reportedly had interest in trading for Curtis Granderson, Andrew McCutchen, Joey Gallo, and Adam Jones.
Out of the four players listed, it seemed like the Phillies wanted Jones, but the veteran outfielder reportedly did not want to waive his 10-5 rights. If you do not know what 10-5 rights are, it is technically a full no-trade clause for players who have achieved 10 years of service time in the majors and spent the last five seasons with the same team.
After Tuesday night’s game against the New York Yankees, Jones gave his reasoning on why he nixed the trade to the Phillies.
“When players walked out years ago and walked the picket lines and did all that stuff, they did all that for reasons like right now,” he said (h/t MASN). “I earned this and it’s my decision. I don’t have to explain it to nobody. It’s my decision. Thank you.”
The 13-year veteran kept it simple and straight to the point about why he did not waive his 10-5 rights. For players like him, who do not have a full no-trade clause in their contract having 10-5 rights allow them to pick their next destination or choose if they want to stay with their current team.
The Baltimore Orioles are in the midst of a full rebuild as the process began with trading shortstop Manny Machado, who the Phillies were also interested in.
However, it was reported last Thursday by Steve Melewski of MASN that Jones preferably did not want to uproot his family and disrupt the other things he was doing in the community.
Jones elaborated more on why he is comfortable with his decision to stay.
“I made the decision. You all didn’t. It’s my decision, it’s my life,” he said. “There’s the thing. I’m not going around telling other people and dictating other people’s lives. Why do they do that with us? So, no one’s going to tell me what to do. I earned every single bit of it. People before me fought vigorously to get rights like this, and I can invoke them.”
With all that being said, you have to respect a player like Jones for speaking out and acknowledging the trials and tribulations other baseball players faced before him.
Would he have been a nice addition to the Phillies for the stretch run? Absolutely. He is a constant professional on and off the field, who will make an immediate impact.
But for Jones, it is obviously bigger than baseball for him. It is about his family and the legacy he has built in Baltimore. The Phillies will be okay with the pieces they acquired and the players that were already on the roster before the deadline.
