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When you think of center fielders, some of the greatest all-around players in baseball history come to mind: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr., Ty Cobb, and currently, Mike Trout, just to name a few. As one of the game’s “glamour” positions, the best center fielders are wizards with both the bat and the glove; during the 2000s, two of the best center fielders in baseball were Jim Edmonds of the St. Louis Cardinals and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves. Both were All-Star and MVP-caliber players in their primes who won numerous Gold Gloves and in full, their careers sit right at the borderline of the Hall of Fame. In comparing the careers of these two sterling center fielders and their Hall of Fame credentials, naturally this also leads to the question:
Who was better – Jim Edmonds or Andruw Jones?
The Beginning
Though they spent their formative years in very different environments, Edmonds and Jones were both drafted or signed by major league teams as teenagers and after honing their skills in the minor leagues, would make immediate big league impacts.
A native of southern California, Edmonds grew up in the shadow of Anaheim Stadium and after an excellent high school baseball career, was drafted in the seventh round of the 1988 MLB Draft by the then-California Angels (later rebranded as the Anaheim Angels). After slowly progressing through the Angels’ minor league system, he made his major league debut in 1993, appearing in 18 games. In his first full season with the Angels in 1994, Edmonds batted .273 in 94 games with 5 home runs, 37 runs batted in, 35 runs scored, a .343 on-base percentage, and a .377 slugging percentage, good for an 86 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100) and an eighth-place finish for AL Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, Jones was born and raised on the island of Curacao in the Caribbean and quickly established himself as a star player in his small home country. Eventually, he was discovered by the Braves and signed with the team as a 16-year-old in 1993; by age 19, he would get a call-up to the major leagues and have a memorable postseason with Atlanta (more on that later). The next year, as a full-fledged rookie in 1997, Jones hit just .231, but with 18 home runs, 70 runs batted in, 60 runs scored, 20 stolen bases, a .329 on-base percentage, and a .416 slugging percentage (93 OPS+) to finish fifth for NL Rookie of the Year.
Career Comparison
In their respective (and overlapping) primes in the late 1990s and 2000s, Edmonds and Jones were two of the best center fielders in baseball, both offensively and defensively, while also leading their teams to significant postseason success.
Edmonds’ breakout campaign came in 1995, as he hit .290 with 33 home runs, 107 runs batted in, 120 runs scored, a .352 on-base percentage, and a .536 slugging percentage, good for a 129 OPS+ and the first of four career All-Star selections. This was followed by three straight seasons of at least a .290 batting average with 25+ home runs and Gold Gloves in both 1997 and 1998; notably, he had a terrific all-around season in 1998 with a Gold Glove, a .307 batting average, 25 home runs, 91 runs batted in, 115 runs scored, a .368 on-base percentage, and a .506 slugging percentage (123 OPS+). However, the next year, Edmonds was limited to just 55 games played because of shoulder injuries and as an upcoming free agent, was subsequently traded by the Angels to the St. Louis Cardinals for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield.
In St. Louis, Edmonds quickly established himself as one of the game’s elite center fielders, both offensively and defensively. In fact, his first year with the Cardinals in 2000 was one of his finest: with a .295 batting average, a career-high 42 home runs, 108 runs batted in, a career-best 129 runs scored, a .411 on-base percentage, and a .583 slugging percentage (147 OPS+), he was once again an All-Star, won the first of six straight Gold Gloves (8x overall), and finished fourth for NL MVP. As an encore, Edmonds followed up in 2001 by hitting .304 with 30 home runs, 110 runs batted in, 95 runs scored, a .410 on-base percentage, and a .564 slugging percentage (149 OPS+). Overall, during his first half-dozen seasons with the Cardinals, he swatted at least 29 home runs each year with 80+ runs batted in and 80+ runs scored; notably, he was again an All-Star in 2003 with a .275 batting average, 39 home runs, 89 runs batted in, 89 runs scored, a .385 on-base percentage, and a .617 slugging percentage (160 OPS+). Edmonds would win his only Silver Slugger and again placed top-five for MVP in 2004 with a .301 batting average, 42 home runs (tying his career-best mark), a career-high 111 runs batted in, 102 runs scored, a .418 on-base percentage, and a career-high .643 slugging percentage, good for a 171 OPS+.
Entering his mid-30s, Edmonds had his final All-Star and Gold Glove season in 2005 – though he hit just .263, he nevertheless still had 29 home runs, 89 runs batted in, 88 runs scored, a .385 on-base percentage, and a .533 slugging percentage (137 OPS+). Over the next few years, recurring post-concussion syndrome limited him to around 110 games played annually and caused his batting average to drop to the .250 range. Ahead of the 2008 season, Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres for future World Series hero David Freese, though he was released after only 26 games played and then signed by the Chicago Cubs, hitting 19 home runs in 85 games with the team. After sitting out the 2009 season, he played one more season in 2010, split between the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds; then, Edmonds returned to the Cardinals on a minor league contract, but nagging injuries would ultimately lead to his retirement ahead of the 2011 season.
Similarly, Jones built on his strong rookie campaign and teamed up with fellow namesake Chipper Jones to form a potent “Jones Brothers” duo in the middle of the Braves lineup, improving to a .271 batting average with 31 home runs, 90 runs batted in, 89 runs scored, a career-best 27 stolen bases, a .321 on-base percentage, and a .515 slugging percentage (116 OPS+) in 1998; moreover, he was well on his way to becoming the premier center fielder of the 2000s with the first of 10 straight Gold Gloves. After another strong year in 1999, he broke out in 2000 with a career-high .303 batting average, 36 home runs, 104 runs batted, a career-high 122 runs scored, 21 stolen bases, a career-high .366 on-base percentage, and a .541 slugging percentage (126 OPS+) to earn his first of five All-Star Game selections, another Gold Glove, and an eighth-place finish for NL MVP. This also marked the first of four straight years with 30+ home runs, including two more All-Star selections in 2002 and 2003:
- 2002: .264 batting average with 35 home runs, 94 runs batted in, 91 runs scored, a .366 on-base percentage, and a .513 slugging percentage (127 OPS+)
- 2003: .277 batting average with 36 home runs, 116 runs batted in, 101 runs scored, a .338 on-base percentage, and a .513 slugging percentage (117 OPS+)
After a slight dip offensively in 2004 (though he still hit 29 home runs and drove in 91 runs), Jones had a career slugging year in 2005 – with a .263 batting average, a league-leading 51 home runs (also a career-high) and 128 runs batted in, 95 runs scored, a .347 on-base percentage, and a career-best .575 slugging percentage (136 OPS+), he not only was an All-Star and Gold Glover once again, but also won his only Silver Slugger and was NL MVP runner-up to Edmonds’ Cardinals teammate Albert Pujols. The next year, Jones was similarly impressive in his final All-Star season, hitting .262 with 41 home runs, a career-high 129 runs batted in, 107 runs scored, a .363 on-base percentage, and a .531 slugging percentage, good for a 126 OPS+. Going into his free agency year in 2007, he slumped mightily to only a .222 batting average, though still showed power (26 home runs and 94 runs batted in) and earned a final Gold Glove.
Following a dozen years in Atlanta, Jones signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but hit a mere .158 in an injury-plagued season (75 games played) and was subsequently released; he then latched on with the Texas Rangers for the 2009 season, but again only batted .214 in limited action. With his skills quickly eroding, Jones joined the Chicago White Sox in 2010 and played 100+ games in a season for the last time, hitting just .230 with 19 home runs. He was soon on the move once again and signed with the New York Yankees, where he would spend two seasons and hit a combined .220, playing his final MLB game at age 35. Thereafter, Jones played two seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan’s Pacific League before officially retiring from baseball in 2016; all in all, his 10 Gold Gloves are tied for second among outfielders with Al Kaline, Ichiro Suzuki, and Griffey Jr. and behind only Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Overall, Edmonds and Jones each played 17 MLB seasons, with the latter having about a season’s worth of additional games played and at-bats due to better durability. Nevertheless, Edmonds compiled slightly more career hits, runs scored, and walks with higher ratios, while Jones hit more career home runs and drove in more runs while stealing more bases. On one hand, Edmonds had more .300+ seasons (5x vs. 1x), but on the other hand, Jones more frequently hit 30+ home runs (7x with 2x 40+ and 1x 50+ vs. 5x with 2x 40+) and drove in 100+ runs (5x vs. 4x), with both men scoring 100+ runs 4x. Additionally, Jones has more All-Star selections (5x vs. 4x) and Gold Gloves (10x vs. 8x), and both won one Silver Slugger. From an advanced metrics perspective, Jones has the higher career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 62.7 vs. 60.4, though this is primarily due to more games played and better defense – Edmonds has the advantage in offensive WAR, while Jones’ defensive WAR (24.4) is nearly 4x that of Edmonds. As borderline Hall of Fame cases, Edmonds fell off the ballot in his first year of eligibility after failing to garner at least 5% of votes; meanwhile, Jones remains on the ballot, but has not come anywhere close to the necessary 75% for induction.
Regular Season Statistics
| Jim Edmonds | Player | Andruw Jones |
| 17 (1993-2008, 2010) | Seasons | 17 (1996-2012) |
| 2,011 | Games Played | 2,196 |
| 6,858 | At-Bats | 7,599 |
| 1,949 | Hits | 1,933 |
| 1,251 | Runs | 1,204 |
| 393 | Home Runs | 434 |
| 1,199 | Runs Batted In | 1,289 |
| 998 | Walks | 891 |
| 67 | Stolen Bases | 152 |
| .284 | Batting Average | .254 |
| .376 | On-Base Percentage | .337 |
| .527 | Slugging Percentage | .486 |
| 132 | OPS+ | 111 |
| 60.4 | Wins Above Replacement | 62.7 |
| 4x | All-Star Games | 5x |
| – | MVP | – |
| 1x | World Series Titles | – |
| 1x Silver Slugger, 8x Gold Glove | Other Awards | 1x Silver Slugger, 10x Gold Glove, 1x ML PoY |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
During their career primes, Edmonds and Jones were annual postseason participants with the Cardinals and Braves, respectively, and each played in the World Series multiple times, though only the former came away with a championship.
Across seven playoff trips (6x with the Cardinals, 1x with the Cubs), Edmonds twice played in the World Series and came away with one championship. In 2004, St. Louis lost in the World Series in six games to the Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz-led Boston Red Sox; after hitting .267 and .229 in the NLDS and NLCS, respectively, Edmonds batted a paltry .067 in the World Series (1 hit in 15 at-bats). However, a couple of years later, the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games for the 2006 World Series and though Edmonds only hit .235 this time around (4 hits in 17 at-bats), he did have a pair of doubles and 4 runs batted in.
As for Jones, he was part of the great Braves dynasty of the 1990s and early 2000s and played in the postseason for a decade straight (plus an additional trip with the Yankees). At age 19 in the 1996 World Series vs. the Yankees, he hit a pair of home runs in a Game 1 rout to break Mantle’s record for youngest player to homer in the World Series; despite hitting .400 and Atlanta winning the first two games, New York ultimately stormed back to take the title in six games. The Braves would once again make the World Series in 1999 in a rematch vs. the Yankees, but were swept and Jones would only bat .077 for the series (1 hit in 13 at-bats).
Playoff Statistics
| Jim Edmonds | Player | Andruw Jones |
| 64 | Games Played | 76 |
| 230 | At-Bats | 238 |
| 63 | Hits | 65 |
| 33 | Runs | 43 |
| 13 | Home Runs | 10 |
| 42 | Runs Batted In | 34 |
| 30 | Walks | 34 |
| 2 | Stolen Bases | 5 |
| .274 | Batting Average | .273 |
| .361 | On-Base Percentage | .363 |
| .513 | Slugging Percentage | .433 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Edmonds experienced a variety of nagging injuries even in his prime, while Jones saw a precipitous drop in production starting around age 30. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Jim Edmonds | Player | Andruw Jones |
| 1995-1998, 2000-2005 | Decade of Dominance | 1997-2006 |
| 1,420 | Games Played | 1,576 |
| 5,003 | At-Bats | 5,730 |
| 1,474 | Hits | 1,533 |
| 989 | Runs | 951 |
| 321 | Home Runs | 337 |
| 934 | Runs Batted In | 1,010 |
| 765 | Walks | 640 |
| 50 | Stolen Bases | 130 |
| .295 | Batting Average | .268 |
| .389 | On-Base Percentage | .346 |
| .559 | Slugging Percentage | .506 |
| 55.5 | Wins Above Replacement | 57.8 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Again, Jones has nearly a full season’s worth of extra games played and at-bats over each player’s decade of dominance – nevertheless, the two players are still very evenly matched with similar statistical trends, resulting in a slightly higher WAR for Jones due to his superior defense.
My Thoughts
When I think back on the playing days of Jim Edmonds and Andruw Jones, I remember them as much for their incredible outfield catches as for their exploits at the plate. Both had that rare combination of offensive and defensive greatness, but their playing profiles differed in my mind. While Jones was arguably a better power hitter and undoubtedly a superior outfielder (one could make the argument that he is among the top five defensive outfielders in MLB history), I think Edmonds was the more accomplished overall player – he was a more well-rounded offensive force whose peak was similar to Jones and though not a transcendent defensive player, still an upper-echelon Gold Glover. As to the Hall of Fame question, as accomplished as each player was for roughly a decade, I think both fall just a notch below in the “Hall of Very Good” alongside the likes of Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Dwight Evans, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, etc.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Jim Edmonds
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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