A little more than eleven years ago, a bad Orioles team that was staring down a necessary rebuild made a trade. Erik Bedard went to Seattle, and coming back to the Orioles were five players, headlined by 22-year-old outfielder Adam Jones. Though we had no way of knowing it then, this was the start of a beautiful friendship.
Today, Jones’s time with the Orioles is officially over. It’s been clear for months that the new regime would not be bringing him back, but until Jones finally signed somewhere else, I couldn’t help but wonder whether they might still find space for him on this team.