SAN FRANCISCO -- While the Braves were in Los Angeles last week, agent Scott Boras met client Andruw Jones on a daily basis to comfort him, not with hope, but with statistical data that he believes supports his theory the Gold Glove center fielder is simply currently navigating the same bumpy road countless superstars before him have traveled.

"I told him, 'Everybody around you sees panic, what I see is a superstar's career, and here's why,'" said Boras, who showed Jones statistical proof of elongated slumps endured by legitimate superstars, namely Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

When Boras arrived at last year's All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, many media members wanted to know what the future held for Alex Rodriguez, who had amazingly found his way to a .213 average in June.

One year later, the question Boras is fielding concerning Rodriguez is, "Where will A-Rod play after winning the American League MVP Award this year?" Many of the same people who wondered if Rodriguez's career was on an eternal downslide have even more reason to wonder the same about Jones, who has somehow managed to hit just .211 heading into this year's All-Star break. The critics will point out that he reached that point only because he managed to register six hits in 11 at-bats at PETCO Park this past weekend.

"I say it's hard to believe, but this is a career thing for a great player," Boras said. "It comes in every career. No player escapes it."

When comparing Boras to baseball players, he is undoubtedly the Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb of his business. A master salesman and negotiator, he regularly crushes obstacles and maximizes his clients' financial benefits on the free agent market.

Those who have assumed that he's cringed with every one of Jones' at-bats this year may want to alter their assumption and realize Boras believes he'll still land Jones the same type of megadeal that he envisioned at the beginning of this season.

"When you're 29 years old and you're Andruw Jones, you can choose when you sign, where you sign and quite frankly how much you sign for," Boras said. "Just because this is a free agent year doesn't mean you have to ... you can do whatever you want to do. You have all the flexibilities, you have all the parameters in your court."

Even after this misery-filled three-month stretch, Jones still finds himself on pace to hit 27 homers and register 98 RBIs. While it's arguable whether he'll reach it, he's obviously in position to enjoy a 30-homer, 100 RBI-season for the third straight year and for the sixth time in the past eight years.

Throw in the fact that he's on pace to register 442 putouts -- which would be his highest mark since 2001 -- and there's certainly further evidence that a 10th consecutive Gold Glove Award is in his future.

With these credentials, Boras believes he'd still be able to turn a .230 batting average by Jones over a season into a six or seven-year deal worth more than $120 million. But there's still definite reason to believe such a deal would have to be provided by somebody other than the Braves.

"We're not negotiating a contract during the season and I think the Atlanta Braves are really an unknown as we look at all the teams," Boras said. "I don't really think they know what they're doing next year, because they're worrying about this year. When that all unfolds, I'm sure they'll let us know, and we'll move forward."

While Jones has said he wants to remain with the Braves, Boras doesn't believe the prospect of this being his final year in Atlanta has mentally affected his client.

"Andruw Jones isn't the type of athlete who is worried about a contract," Boras said. "Andruw Jones is a baseball player. He likes to play every day and he likes to play well. When he's not feeling well about his play, Andruw doesn't feel particularly good."

Other top outfielders who will become free agents at the end of this season include Ichiro Suzuki and Torii Hunter. But with the prolonged excellence Jones has shown since becoming a Major League regular in 1997, Boras believes the Braves center fielder has put himself in special class, one that won't be affected by the rough first half he just realized.

"Torii Hunter is one of the best center fielders in the game," Boras said. "When you measure them up statistically, Andruw is a 30-homer, 100-RBI guy every year. That would be a career year for Torri. Defensively, a guy getting into the 400-putout area, that's something Torii has done a couple of times and Andruw has done five or six times in his career."

As has been reported multiple times, Boras obviously wasn't happy with Jayson Stark's new book, "The Stark Truth." While evaluating a number of variables, including one that showed a gradual decline of putouts since 2001, Stark labeled Jones as the most overrated center fielder of all time.

Since collecting an eye-popping 492 putouts in 1999, Jones hasn't come close to matching that mark. But as Boras points out, Ted Williams hit .406 in 1951 and never really challenged that mark again until 1957, when he hit .388.

"That is a journalist using numbers without really examining what superstardom is," Boras said in reference to Stark. "Achieving greatness and the fact that you may never achieve it again, doesn't mean you're still not a superstar."

Boras obviously views Jones as a legitimate future Hall of Famer, and within the large portfolio that he'll carry into his offseason negotiations, he'll have an assortment of numbers that he believes will simply fortify this belief.