Nolan Jones ready for restart after trade from Guardians to Rockies

Nolan Jones wasn’t expecting to start the 2023 season with any other team besides the Cleveland Guardians. After making his MLB debut with the franchise in 2022, however, the 24-year-old Jones will begin the next chapter of his MLB journey with the Colorado Rockies after a mid-November trade.

From Cleveland Guardians to Colorado Rockies, Nolan Jones ready for a fresh start

In a one-for-one swap, Cleveland sent Jones, once the former top prospect for the organization, to Colorado in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Brito. In a recent interview, Jones told me the trade caught him off guard.

“To be honest with you, it was a complete surprise,” Jones said. “Last year in the playoffs (Cleveland), there was conversation that roster moves would need to be made. But I think when you’re a player, and you’re in the clubhouse, and even after the season, you’re not really thinking about those changes that could possibly happen. We never see if our name is brought up in conversation or anything like that, so it really did catch me by surprise.”

A second-round draft pick for Cleveland in 2016, Jones logged 86 at-bats with the Guardians last season after making his MLB debut on July 8. He went 2-for-3 against the Kansas City Royals in his debut, part of a start to his career with multiple hits in three of his first four games.

However, Jones eventually found his playing time limited not only by a lack of production (31 strikeouts in those 86 at-bats while posting a .244/.309/.372 slash line) but also by the emergence of Oscar Gonzalez in right field for the surprising Guardians. Jones was sent back to Triple-A on August 20 and, despite an uptick in production in Columbus in September, never received a call back to Cleveland.

“Once you get a taste of the big leagues, and see how great everything really is up there, you want that forever,” Jones said. “You want to continue to play in the big leagues, helping your club win. It was tough for me. It obviously wasn’t what I was hoping for or expecting but, at the same time, it motivated me to to never be in that situation again, or at least do my best to try to never be in that situation.”

And that’s what Jones is planning to do when spring training opens with the Rockies. Jones is hoping to land on a roster packed already with corner infielders and outfielders, but Colorado manager Bud Black is ready to see what Jones can bring to the team.

“He’s in that mix of players that are going to come to camp and try to win a job. He’s another talented player,” Black said. “(Michael) Toglia, (Sean) Bouchard, Connor Joe, (Elehuris) Montero, these are guys that have been in the Big Leagues. They’re trying to really establish themselves. Nolan’s in that mix of guys. He can play a little third. He can play the outfield. He can play some first, so there’s some versatility there. He’s got some power. But like all those guys, there are some things he has to clean up, but he’s got a talent.”

A switch from the American League to the National League and from Lake Erie to the Rocky Mountains is one that Jones is embracing.

“I think that I think a change of scenery and a fresh opportunity is something I’m really looking forward to,” Jones said. “I was drafted by the Guardians. I’ve been in their organization for seven years, and I’ll forever cherish those relationships and friendships that I made with the people over there. But I think this is a whole new opportunity, and I think that’s something I’m looking forward to. It’s a new opportunity and a change of scenery.”

You can read more about Jones and why hockey is so important to him in another part of this interview here.