Baseball’s continued spike in home runs made fly balls even more valuable in 2019.

Figure 1: Total home runs hit by baseball teams in 2018 and 2019. These home run counts do not include players that were traded or switched teams during each of these seasons.

Juiced balls or not, the Twins, Mets, and Rays found new a religion in the long ball. Others like the White Sox and Indians actually hit less home runs last season*.

But one thing is certain. There were significantly less valuable trades at the July 2019 deadline. Position players that switched teams last season hit 132 less home runs than in 2018.

Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t much change in terms of the average slugging, on-base percentage, or batted balls in play over these two seasons.

The Adam Jones, Sapporo Beer Connection

Last December, Adam Jones signed a 2-year deal in Japan. The 12 plus-year outfielder, who spent a lot time in Baltimore, is ready to give up a steady supply of crab legs for a fridge stocked with Sapporo beer.

On beeradvocate.com, a website of beer reviews, Sapporo Original Draft Beer, gets a pedestrian 2.93 (out of 5) rating.** One un-enchanted traveler wrote these unkind words:

“Drank this on tap at the local sushi bar, first time trying, probably the last. Very lifeless beer, nothing memorable outside of the fact that is a beer.”

But it’s hard not to get excited over an egg salad sandwich from Lawson, a local 7-11 like store in Japan. And Jones, if he wants, can always get at least a tuna sandwich and non-stale coffee from 7-11, which has a bit of a cult following here.

Figure 2: An egg salad sandwich from Lawson.

Jones made $3 million playing in Phoenix last season. Now he makes $4.1 million per season to play overseas in Japan, which, of course, might not be paid in full because of Covid-19 delays.

Of course, his salary would go a lot farther in a place like Porto, Portugal. A place where milk, cheese, fat, and bread are sometimes combined into one dish accompanied by a pint of Sagres (5.0 ABV%).*** But for now, over kikanbo ramen and a frigid Kirin beer, Jones is content to live his life in Kobe.

*Team home run counts are based on players that played on the same team in 2018 and 2019 seasons.

** Its style is a Japanese Rice Lager

*** The average rents in Tokyo and Lisbon were $1,903 and $984.96 USD in 2019. Of course, Jones lives in Kobe Japan, a city in southern Japan. He is probably holed up in his rental or perhaps hotel room. An order of takeout Kobe beef, maybe even in a Styrofoam container, coupled with shot of Honjozo, will have to sustain him for now.