LOS ANGELES -- Andruw Jones and the Dodgers have reached an agreement to defer much of his remaining salary while virtually assuring he will not be with the club in 2009.
Jones will either be traded or released before the start of Spring Training and perhaps sometime this month, according to an industry source.
The agreement will allow Jones a fresh start elsewhere after a nightmare of a first season and provide the Dodgers with additional payroll flexibility that could be used to re-sign free-agent outfielder Manny Ramirez.
The Major League Baseball Players Association approved the unusual agreement because Jones will receive his entire salary, as well as the possible benefit of free agency should he be released.
Jones is owed about $21.1 million from a back-loaded two-year contract. Instead of paying that total amount this year, the agreement spreads out the Dodgers' payments for as many as six years. The amount deferred could be as much as $12 million.
Before Jones left the club during its 2008 division-title run in September, he told teammates he did not want to return to Los Angeles for the final year of a $36.2 million contract signed in December 2007 and would waive his no-trade protection.
Jones is represented by Scott Boras, who is also the agent for Ramirez. Negotiations between Boras and the Dodgers for Ramirez resumed this week. Ramirez is seeking a four- or five-year deal, while the Dodgers' offer of two years and $45 million plus an option was ignored by Ramirez and withdrawn by the club six weeks ago.
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Source: MLB.com
Andruw Jones
- Photo2 by Tim Evearitt