On Jan. 15, 2009, the Los Angeles Dodgers placed Andruw Jones on waivers after he agreed to defer the majority of the $21.1 million still owed to him, marking the end of a disastrous 13-month stint with the organization.
Jones joined the Dodgers on a two-year, $36.2 million contract during the 2007 offseason after spending the first 12 years of his career with the Atlanta Braves. While the move came with plenty of fanfare, it proved to be one of the worst signings in franchise history.
Jones reported to Spring Training out of shape and struggled before undergoing knee surgery in late May. Jones would return for the start of July but continued to slump and regularly was booed by Dodgers fans following each at-bat.
Jones was placed on the disabled list for a second time in August after re-injuring his knee, which effectively ended his season. In 75 games, Jones batted .158/.256/.249 with eight doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI across 238 plate appearances.
The five-time All-Star went on to sign a Minor League contract with the Texas Rangers after clearing waivers and enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back year as he hit .214/.323/.459 in 82 games during the 2009 season.
Jones then joined the Chicago White Sox for the 2010 season before spending the final two years of his career with the New York Yankees.
Kemp agrees to multi-year contract extension with Dodgers
Also on this day in Dodgers history — but in 2010 -— the Dodgers avoided salary arbitration with Matt Kemp by agreeing to a two-year, $10.95 million contract.
Kemp was coming off a career season in which he batted .297/.352/.490 with 25 doubles, seven triples, 26 home runs, 101 RBI and 34 stolen bases over 668 plate appearances (162 games). He finished 10th in National League MVP voting that year while also winning his first career Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards.
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