Jon Paul Morosi wonders if Chipper shouldn't retire RIGHT NOW. Again, honestly this isn't a terrible idea but Morosi's solutions to the whole "who will play third base" problem aren't effective. I normally try to avoid articles that talk about my favorite teams, but I couldn't do it this time.
In time, we will talk about Chipper Jones as a Hall of Fame candidate, the preeminent switch hitter of his generation, one of the best offensive third basemen in history.
We will offer the proper compliments to a player who is among the top 10 active players in hits and games played.
Now I feel all warm inside just thinking about this (Bengoodfella hugs a teddy bear and gently blows a butterfly off a leaf as he sits in a field of daisies).
But not today.
What? An article that is entitled "Is it time for Chipper to hang 'em up" isn't a sweet eulogy towards him? I don't know if I can handle this sudden switch in tone.
(Cries into the teddy bear and swats angrily at butterflies while tearing the daisies up from their roots)
Right now, Jones is a .233 hitter who isn’t ready to stop playing. And .233 hitters don’t usually have much say-so beyond what they eat for lunch.
Chipper doesn't even get to decide what he has for lunch now. You don't like salmon for lunch Chipper? YOU WILL EAT YOUR SALMON AND FUCKING ENJOY IT!
But his agent, B.B. Abbott, told FOXSports.com on Tuesday that Jones will “absolutely not” walk away before the season is over.
Chipper's agent is named B.B. Abbott? Why do I feel like this guy should smoke a cigar and have a top hat on?
Part of the reason it is not smart for Chipper to walk away is that the Braves have no other third base options, Chipper Jones still has a great OBP and the Braves would like for fans to continue to attend the games in Atlanta. It sort of leaves the Braves in a bind if he just up and quits this year. He is not hitting well currently, but the options to replace him (and the jerseys he sells) are not attractive.
It makes sense for Chipper to not pull a Griffey and just quit midseason after getting caught taking a siesta in the clubhouse.
So, the Atlanta Braves have a very delicate situation on their hands. If they would like to remain in first place, it must be resolved very quickly – and with bluntly honest communication.
I guess I don't get why the Braves have to move quickly on this decision to stay in first place. They made it into first place with Chipper playing terribly, along with some other players playing even worse than him, so based on the idea they will get healthier and the average players start playing average and stop playing out of their mind (looks at Eric Hinske) and the good players start playing well, the Braves still have a good shot at the NL East. This isn't me as a Braves fan saying this, this is me being logical.
Jones, 38, is well within his rights to stick around for the rest of this season. Heck, the Braves still owe him $14 million next year and $14 million the year after that. He could, in theory, hang out on the bench or disabled list and collect every penny.
It's been pretty much established that Chipper Jones won't do this. I think this idea is off the table.
But he doesn’t want to diminish his legacy by hanging on too long. Jones might soon make an announcement about his future.
And if he does, it should go something like this: I’m going to retire at the end of this season, and I should be a part-time player between now and then.
I guess we are working the assumption that playing the rest of this year will diminish his legacy, but calling a press conference to say, "Hey I suck now. I think a career minor league player like Brooks Conrad should take my place at third base" will in no way affect his legacy. I don't agree with this assumption.
Let's weigh the difference in playing out the year and quitting immediately or being benched so another player can take his position:
On one hand, we have playing out the rest of this year and not having a great year. This will let everyone know that he is declining as a player and this should probably be his last year. He runs the risk of staying around too long.
On the other hand, Jon Paul Morosi advocates giving up on being a full-time player so a career minor leaguer can take over his position. This will let everyone know that not only has Chipper Jones' talent level declined, but now a 30 year old guy who is barely a major league baseball player is now considered a better option for the team than Jones, even when this may not be true.
Both options seem to be equal in the realm of "legacy diminishing" to me.
That’s right. If Cox won’t do it, Chipper Jones should bench himself.
Why the hell should Bobby Cox listen to Chipper Jones? If Bobby Cox keeps running him out there and believes he is the best guy to play third base on the roster, then Chipper shouldn't go over the manager's head to get public opinion in favor of Cox benching him. There is something about publicly telling his manager what to do that doesn't seem like the smart move for Chipper.
He doesn’t need to permanently take himself out of the lineup, per se. But he should make clear to the Braves that he is only interested in sticking around if Cox and general manager Frank Wren
Which they obviously do believe or else he wouldn't be in the starting lineup when he isn't injured. I think the fact he has played third base as much as possible this year shows that the Braves still believe in his ability to play third base...or they are afraid of letting him not play third base, which really Chipper can't do anything about anyway.
Who is to say Chipper hasn't left it up to the Braves management and Bobby Cox? We don't know this for sure. He very well could have told them to only put him out there if they think he is the best player to play third base...and Cox has continued to play him out there.
Recently, he went 37 games without hitting a home run. He had six RBIs in April.
He had 15 RBI's in May. He has two RBI's in June...so maybe July will be a decent month for him.
He’s hitting just .221 with one homer from the left side – a startling regression, considering his .305/.409/.547 career line against right-handers.
That is terrible. Let's look at some other numbers that may show Morosi why Chipper is staying in the lineup.
.233/.376/.366
That was his line as of the time I wrote this post. Not great, but also not a terrible OBP, and it always helps a team score runs when a guy gets on base.
40
That's how many walks Chipper currently has.
28
That's how many strikeouts Chipper currently has.
101
Chipper's OPS+
1.0
His WAR
So yes, he isn't playing well, but there are reasons to keep him in the lineup everyday that go beyond what a popular player he is.
Because he’s technically owed $28 million over the next two seasons, he could negotiate one of the greatest golden parachutes in baseball history. He can say to the Braves: I won’t show up to play next season, which will allow you to void the contract … as long as you hire me back as a well-compensated special adviser.
A person who is concerned about his legacy doesn't do this. Even though he has this leverage, there is no way I think Chipper would do this. Technically this is an option, but a guy who is worried enough about his legacy doesn't do this.
Fans in Atlanta, who aren’t exactly known for packing the house, are pretty attached to Chipper. It wouldn’t be a good time to alienate them.
This is very true, I will admit this, but I don't entirely get what this has to do with Chipper Jones retiring. Maybe he is in the lineup because of his .376 OBP or it may be because the fans want to see him. Either way his strikeouts aren't up, he still gets on base and he really isn't that big of a detriment to the team, especially compared to the black hole that is 2/3 of the starting outfield. There are reasons for him to stick around and reasons for the Braves to not bench him immediately.
Conrad is hitting better left-handed than he is right-handed. The opposite is true of Jones. So, maybe the Braves should consider a platoon.
In fairness to Morosi, he did say Brooks Conrad and Omar Infante are not very good internal options, but the idea of platooning Chipper Jones with a guy who has 42 at-bats from the left-hand side of the plate this year and is a career minor leaguer doesn't make sense to me. Conrad has been a great pinch-hitter and a decent role-player this year. Doesn't the fact he is 30 years old and he hasn't had more than 54 at-bats at the major league level not concern Morosi that Conrad may get exposed if he gets 300 at-bats and plays everyday? I would think it should concern him.
But what if Wren can swing a deal for a third baseman? What if the Diamondbacks start shopping power threat Mark Reynolds?
You mean the guy who is actually hitting for a lower average than Chipper Jones at .218? Or is this the guy who has a lower OBP than Chipper has? So we go from a guy with an OPS+ of 101 and WAR of 1.0 to a guy with an OPS+ of 105 and a WAR of 0.6? Reynolds over Jones makes sense in terms of power, but there are other reasons to think it isn't such a great move to trade for Reynolds.
He has triple the strikeouts Chipper Jones has and has less walks than Chipper Jones has. Reynolds slugging percentage is higher and he hits more home runs, the Braves do need home runs, but trading prospects for Reynolds doesn't seem worth it to me.
What if the Red Sox, desperate to trade Mike Lowell to a team outside of the American League, would give him to the Braves for a bargain price?
Then that would mean the Braves are absolute morons because Mike Lowell is two years younger than Chipper Jones and is worse than Chipper Jones in nearly every single category I could find or think of. Sure, he hasn't gotten a chance to play much with the Red Sox this year, but outside of the Red Sox giving Lowell to the Braves, there should be no reason the Braves should trade for him.
Lowell's line for this year: .215/.311/.354. He also has two home runs though AND 12 RBI's though! Who wouldn't want that production from a corner infielder? I am sure the fact Lowell doesn't start has nothing to do with the fact Lowell's performance has been steadily declining and I am sure he will bounce back once he gets a chance to play. No really, it makes sense to trade prospects for a guy who isn't as good as the guy he is replacing.
Then the team would need to free up a roster spot. And given the versatility that Conrad and Infante offer, it would be hard to justify Jones’ continued presence on the club.
Read more about this move in Morosi's upcoming book, "How to Take a Division-Leading Baseball Team and Make Them Worse in One Easy Trade!"
I am not defending Chipper Jones and I don't care if he gets benched, but the only reason it makes sense to bench Jones is if the team gets better because of it. The Braves may not win the NL East this year, I don't expect them to, but the way to ensure they have a better chance to win the NL East is to not trade for Mike Lowell. The Braves already have a third baseman with injury problems playing for them, and he is playing better than Lowell.
In pondering Jones’ future, I can’t help but think about Ken Griffey Jr., another legend who faded late.
There is absolutely no comparison here. Griffey Jr. had a line of .184/.250/.204 this year before he retired. He had no home runs in 97 at-bats. Chipper has four home runs in 172 at-bats and as bad as his numbers are this year, they are much better than what Griffey was putting up this year and even in some ways is putting up better numbers this year than what Griffey did last year. Chipper is playing terrible, but as long as he is getting on-base and showing flashes of his old self, the Braves should be fine with him playing every day.
Jones should save himself that anguish and only stick around as long as the Braves truly need him. Maybe that will mean serving as a super-utility player and pinch hitter.
Super-utility player? He only plays third base. Not to mention, the other internal option to replace him, Omar Infante, isn't playing much better than Jones and has much, much more value as a utility player because he can play multiple positions. So of the four options presented here, Brooks Conrad, Omar Infante, Mark Reynolds, and Mike Lowell...Jones is playing better than two of them (Lowell, Infante), another will probably be exposed by playing everyday (Conrad), and the other hits home runs and that is about the only advantage he has over Jones (Reynolds).
I am a Braves fan, but I am not a homer. There are many times I think Bobby Cox should have retired years ago, and Chipper Jones should retire after this year. Why replace him with a player who brings in less fans to the park and is playing either worse or marginally better than him?
The Braves can win the division this season, and Jones can help them do it.
They are in 1st place now. If the Braves don't win the division it will be because of poor pitching and other players on the Braves roster not doing their part either. Nate McLouth is an abomination right now, Yunel Escobar is offensively challenged currently, Brian McCann is underperforming, and seeing Melky Cabrera play every day because he is the 2nd best everyday outfielder just makes me sad.
Jones contributing is important, but his performance isn't what holds the team back or makes them play well at this point. They can win with him playing poorly and lose with him hitting well.
Just not in the way that he always did. Only if he realizes that a phased-out retirement has a chance to work.
But once Jones has phased himself out and retired, who the Braves put at third base? Infante is too valuable everywhere else to play third base everyday, Brooks Conrad isn't an everyday guy and there isn't a third baseman out there that is available and worth trading prospects for. The Braves have few options at this point, outside of putting Troy Glaus at third base and finding someone to play first base...which creates a whole new problem.
Perhaps the Braves should worry more about Nate McLouth's .577 OPS or Melky Cabrera's .646 OPS, both of which are much worse than what Jones is hitting. Yes, I think the outfield is the sore thumb that sticks out needing to be fixed more than third base.
-One last thing. Johnette Howard wrote an article that I don't mind, but we need an editor up in here STAT!
and you’re at the point now where you can almost mouth the dialogue along with them like someone who’s watching Bull Durham or Annie Hall for the 1,423rd time? When umpire Tim Joyce painfully confessed
TIM Joyce? I know it is one letter, but this guy has been all-over the news for the last two weeks. Who the hell edits columns for NBCSports and why didn't anyone notice this mistake? It's Jim Joyce and this should have been caught.
That's not it though. I'll let Johnette finish the sentence now...
to messing up Armando Gallaragga’s perfect game – now that was an unscripted apology.
I guess no one notice that Johnette Howard threw an extra "l" and "g" in Galarraga's name, while leaving out the extra "r." This is sad. If you don't know how to spell something, just do an internet search on it. It's like Johnette gave up and just started adding letters.
For two professional people, a writer and an editor, to miss these two big mistakes in one column is just ridiculous to me, much less for them to miss these mistakes in one sentence of a column. Is editing really that hard? This should be the easy part of the job, learning the correct spelling of names and making sure the names in the column written are correct.
With Chipper playing this poorly, the Braves have the second most runs scored in the NL. He's not really hurting the team that much by playing, especially when he's still OBPing near .370. He's also been fighting injuries this year, so lets see what happens the rest of the season.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the Braves could theoretically move Prado to play third and let Infante play second, but then you lose Jones' power (or whatever he still has).
Even if Chipper decides to retire at the end of the season, he should just tell the front office. If he has a great second half, then he might want to stick around another year, so why lock into anything when there's still 90ish games left?
I hate writing about my favorite team, but I had to. I have thought about this a lot and come to the conclusion, Jones has to stay.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a great point that they could play Infante at 2B and Prado at 3B, but Infante really isn't an everyday guy and he is so valuable as that utility guy. The best I could come up with was play Hinske at 1B, Glaus at 3B, and have Chipper come off the bench, but at some point Eric Hinkse will come back to Earth and then shitty-Chipper will be better than him in a full-time role.
Chipper sucks this year, but it isn't in the best interest of the team in regard to performance for him to sit. It will stress a lineup that is frankly overachieving at this point. He's getting on-base for the other guys in the lineup at worst right now.
The Braves aren't going to win the NL East, I have no delusions of that, but at some point things will equal out among the players playing poorly and well and I really think Jones will hit a little bit better. It doesn't seem like he can't catch up with a fastball anymore, because he isn't striking out that much.
I think he has told the front office he is retiring barring a miraculous turnaround. Announcing it now would only put a damper on Bobby Cox's farewell and I don't think he wants to do that. No sense in making a decision now when he has all year, but Morosi's solutions weren't good at all. I feel like they are stuck with Jones and it isn't a terrible thing...yet.
The thing about a Chipper is that he's more a luxury now than a necessity. With Heyward playing the way he is, even if Hinske falls back to earth, a Chipper that hits .300 with 20 HRs isn't really needed for Atlanta to do well this season.
ReplyDeleteFor me the real critical player this season (as a Phillies fan, so you may have a different opinion) is Troy Glaus. If Glaus can stay healthy (and he seems to have recovered from last year's injury), then with him and Heyward, you've got enough power that you can afford to keep a .230-.250 hitter in the lineup OBPing .370.
The thing I don't get about the article is why it was written. Is Jones the franchise carrying guy he was two years ago? No, but that doesn't mean he can't be an effective/productive hitter, especially with Bobby Cox.
Rich, you are right. The Braves are contending because of Troy Glaus and Martin Prado...at least on offense. Of course Heyward is in there. The article didn't need to be written because I think Morosi needs to understand Chipper isn't the guy that carries the team anymore, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be in the lineup.
ReplyDeleteHe is a luxury in the lineup, but he gets on-base and pitchers still respect him. If he was striking out a lot and not getting on-base, I would think differently, but as long as he is there to set up Glaus, I think he should stay in the lineup.
What's the point of retiring or announcing you are retiring if you aren't sure? Don't we knock Brett Favre for doing that exact thing?
For me, and not being a homer, he makes sense because he is a switch hitter and still is playing at a league average level. He's been terrible in June, but he also has a .174 BABiP.
I wouldn't be concerned as a Phillies fan, I don't know if this Braves team has the offense to keep this up. Maybe pitchers will challenge Chipper more, but having him hit behind Heyward is giving him great pitches to hit. That makes it worth it to me.
As a Braves fan, I don't have a problem with Chipper being the everyday third baseman. I'm not sure he should still be the #3 hitter, though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, didn't Hinske come up as a third baseman too? I'm too lazy to look up whether he was any good at it, but that was a thought I had when the Braves went and got Glaus & Hinske in the offseason, that one of them might be insurance for Chipper.
Casey, I feel the same way. I don't know if they would move him down in the order too much, but I could see Heyward being in the #3 spot and Chipper moving up to #2 or even moving down to #5...though I think #2 makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, Hinske did play 3B. The problem with him starting there is that the OF needs him out there and I am not sure when the last time he played 3B was. He is insurance though because he can play multiple positions, and I imagine he could play 3B in a pinch. There is some flexibility in the lineup. I think the OF is a bigger need right now overall.