JONES JR Jonathan

General
CLUB CAREER
He was selected in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. In the Blue Jays' minor league system, he reached Double-A status in 2013 and 2014 before he was released. He went on to play independent league baseball in the American Association with the Gary SouthShore RailCats in 2015 and the New Britain Bees in the Atlantic League in 2016. In mid-2016 he signed as a free agent with Mexican Baseball League team Vaqueros Laguna. In 2018 he was traded to Leones de Yucatan. He has also played in the Mexican Winter League with Caneros de Los Mochis and had a spell in the Australian Baseball League with Canberra Cavalry in 2012. (baseball-reference.com, 11 Jul 2021; milb.com, 27 Jun 2021)

REPRESENTING MEXICO
He was playing in the independent leagues in the United States of America when he became interested in the Mexican Baseball League after a teammate asked about his heritage. His teammate got in touch with a coach, who immediately told Jones to go to Mexico. "It was very nerve-racking because there are these horror stories about Mexico, 'They don't pay on time,' or 'If you don't perform, they'll release you very fast.' So I was very sceptical, but I did it anyway. It was a challenge, it was a new experience. I wanted something new, and the financial situation in Mexico was much better than the pay in independent ball." In 2019 he was invited to become a member of the Mexican national team for the 2019 Premier12. "I never imagined I would be in this position. In 2016 I was just trying to prolong my career. To think that I'd be sitting here now, having played for Team Mexico, it's a crazy feeling. But with years of hard work, and I've taken my lumps along the way, and now I'm finally reaping the rewards." (thereporter.com, 06 Apr 2020)

HERITAGE
He was born in Vacaville, CA, United States of America, to a Mexican mother. (leones.mx, 25 Jul 2018; thereporter.com, 06 Apr 2020)

FURTHER STUDIES
He has also earned a degree in liberal arts and sciences at Arizona State University in Phoenix, AZ, United States of America, and completed a master's in business administration [MBA] at the University of Tennessee at Martin in the United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 2019)