Spencer Jones has played like a potential major-league superstar for the New York Yankees over the past month.
Yet Jones nearly had an entirely different path to the majors — one that could have had him pitching for the Los Angeles Angels.
Jones opened up about what might have been had he skipped Vanderbilt and turned pro when the Angels selected him in the 31st round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Jones, 25, is the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, and he has been carrying the Yankees offense especially of late. According to statistician Katie Sharp, Jones is slashing .313/.357/.578 with four homers, five doubles, five stolen bases and 13 RBIs in his past 20 games.
Spencer Jones Was Drafted by the Angels in 2019
Jones was chosen out of high school so long ago that the round in which he was picked no longer exists. Still, he was a promising pitcher/outfield prospect coming out of La Costa Canyon High School down the road from Anaheim in Carlsbad, California.
Angels fans can wonder what might have been, and Yankees fans can thank their lucky stars that Jones decided to spurn the Angels’ nominal signing bonus to go to Vanderbilt.
“I mean, it’s very human to think about it. In college, I’d think about it, too. It’s wild to think that at the time there was that opportunity, and we said no,” Jones told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “I don’t know if I was going to continue to hit if I was a two-way player because a lot of teams liked me as a pitcher back then. It’s super interesting in retrospect. I’m not really sure where I would be.”
Jones told Phillips he would have seriously considered turning pro if he had been picked earlier. But with about a $1,000 signing bonus awaiting him, he passed and chose college baseball instead.
He made the right call. Jones sustained a torn UCL before enrolling at Vanderbilt, effectively ending his pitching career. He grew up — and into his body — at Vanderbilt, and learned how to become a pro player.
“Imagine instead of your freshman year of college, you go and you play professional baseball where you have to learn how to cook for yourself, do your own laundry,” Jones said. “I didn’t know how to do any of that, and then amplify that with the expectations of being a professional athlete and getting paid money. Then it’s like you have to perform for a company that you’re new to. That seems like a lot for a young kid, especially people that didn’t necessarily know exactly what professional baseball entails.
“I needed Vanderbilt and I needed Nashville and I needed all those life experiences to get me into pro ball, and now we’re here in a much better spot.”
Spencer Jones Is Thriving With the Yankees
It’s also fair to wonder how the Southern California kid would have handled playing for an organization like the Angels.
They have, of course, been in turmoil under owner Arte Moreno. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, despite rostering Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout together for years.
Luckily for the Yankees, they picked Jones 25th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft after his college eligibility expired. He earned a $2.8 million signing bonus and is poised for a raise in his first pre-arbitration deal this offseason.
“I had gotten a lot more comfortable, started having fun, enjoyed baseball,” Jones said. “I knew what I felt like I needed to do at the time, and fast forward however many years, now we’re here.”
Yankees Breakout Star Spencer Jones Reveals How Close He Came to Joining Angels