Andruw Jones agrees to a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers

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So you thought Andruw Jones was overpaid?

Well, Jones has agreed to a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers that could earn him $750,000 in addition to the $22.1 million still owed to him by the Dodgers.

When a team releases a player under contract, as the Dodgers did with Jones last month as part of an agreement to restructure his deal, that club is responsible for the money remaining on the contract. The player can be signed by another club at the major league minimum, which is $400,000 this year, with that money going to the team that released him.

But in negotiating Jones’ release, agent Scott Boras got the Dodgers to agree to let his client keep half of the money he earns from his new club this year.

According to the terms of his new contract, Jones will earn $500,000 if he makes the Rangers’ major league roster and can make an additional $1 million in incentives based on plate appearances. Half of that money would be his and the other half would go to the Dodgers.

Jones, who is considered a longshot to make the Rangers, can opt out of the deal on March 20.

Jones had a disastrous 2008 season with the Dodgers, hitting .158 with three home runs and 14 runs batted in. Boras steered Jones to the Rangers to get him to work with Rudy Jaramillo, whom the agent thinks is to hitting coaches what Larry Bowa of the Dodgers is to infield coaches -- that is, the best in the business.

-- Dylan Hernandez