SARASOTA, Fla. -- Adam Jones wants it known. The veteran outfielder, who is entering the final years of his extension with Baltimore, wants to win. At this stage in his career, Jones isn't prioritizing money or length of contract. The fierce competitor wants some hardware.
"I'm going to make the best decision for myself and going forward," Jones said in the O's clubhouse Sunday morning. "I want to win. It's not about money. It's winning. I've got a lot of friends with rings, hardware. My friend Cameron Maybin, he won a ring last year. My friend Quintin Berry got a ring. Dontrelle [Willis] got a ring. Edwin Jackson got a ring. I've got a bunch of friends with rings and I ain't got no ring, so I want to play for something."
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Can it happen with Baltimore? No one knows for sure, though this season is the last, contractually, for Jones, relievers Zach Britton and Brad Brach, All-Star infielder Manny Machado, manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette.
Showalter made it clear on Saturday that his annual state-of-the-team meeting Sunday night won't be for the thin-skinned. It will be about how the organization can get back to prominence.
"This is professional baseball. It's not a daycare. We are here for one reason," said Jones, who joked he had rhino-thick skin. "Simple as that -- we are here for one reason and one reason only. And if you're not here for that, bye. Thick skin, that's the rhetoric, but [Showalter's] message is he's here to win."
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Whether Jones will stick around beyond this season isn't up to him, as he reminded the media again on Sunday morning. There have been no new developments regarding an extension for Jones, who was traded to the O's in 2008, though he said he's unconcerned with that this spring.
"Once you get in here, all of that other contract stuff and last year, all that stuff goes out the window. Obviously, it's on the minds of people because it's their lives, but myself, Brach, Manny, Zach, we are worried about '18," he said. "We are worried about getting through Spring Training and doing something between those lines once March 29 starts. We aren't worried about the future, because we can't control that part."
If Jones and his teammates hit the free-agent market next year, they'll do so on the heels of an historically slow winter.
"I know there's a lot of guys out there that can help every single team in baseball win, and they're sitting at home. That's what I don't understand," Jones said. "You want to see your peers in positions of success. You want to see them with a job, you want to see them playing."