Connolly’s Tap Room: Is Jones’ dwindling playing time business or displeasure?

It’s been a gloomy week, and I’m not talking about the baseball being played by the Orioles. That’s not gloomy; that’s cataclysmic.

Still, all these clouds make it seem like a good time for some fake morning drinking. Or fake afternoon drinking. Or just fictional drinking, in general, no matter the time.

And with that comes a new dose of Connolly’s Tap Room and some baseball talk.

Today’s a touchy subject because it involves a franchise icon — yeah, I’m ready to call him that — and a decision to bench him, at least temporarily, as this burning volcano of a season wanes.

Adam Jones didn’t start for three games against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend. And thankfully, Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn’t hide fully behind the “playing on the Tropicana Field turf” excuse. He told reporters in Florida that the club wants to look at some other younger players down the stretch.

That makes sense in a rebuild considering Jones is 33 and a pending free agent.

Except Showalter is always wary of making judgments about players in September, when the spotlight is often dulled.

Except there is no guarantee that Showalter or executive vice president Dan Duquette will be around in November to make any of those September judgments count.

Except the Orioles should at least try to demonstrate a modicum of competitiveness, given that some of the teams they are playing are still trying to win.

Except Jones is still this team’s best player, and, since you can’t vote for those who have been traded, he will be the 2018 Most Valuable Oriole.

Except in the three games that Jones sat, Chris Davis and his sub .200 average started in two.

And here’s the biggie: It makes sense to sit Jones to evaluate others except the players being evaluated are Cedric Mullins, who will go into 2019 as the starting center fielder no matter what he does in September, Joey Rickard, 27, and John Andreoli, 28.

With all due respect to Rickard, who has 700 MLB at-bats, and Andreoli, who has almost 2,000 at-bats at Triple-A, there is enough of a book to get a solid understanding of what they are: Speedy fourth outfield types who can fill in a gap nicely but will be exposed with everyday play.

Rickard and Andreoli almost certainly are not part of this team when it is good again — three to five years down the road.

Jones isn’t, either, but he’s done enough for this community and organization that he should be able to finish his career here with dignity. I’ll go further. I believe, if a reasonable deal can be struck, that re-signing Jones should be a top priority this offseason, not because he’ll help make this team a sudden winner.

But because he can help navigate the youngsters through the MLB woods, because the true youngsters don’t appear to be ready yet and, well, because Jones can still play in comparison to what else this organization has.

I do understand the business aspect here. But I lean toward decency: Treat one of the most respected players in franchise history with respect until he’s gone.

What’s your take here? Am I not seeing the big picture? Is dwindling playing time for Jones an inevitability or a disrespect?

Tap-In Question: Jones’ decreasing playing time, business or displeasure?

(Top photo of Jones: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)