The Braves' Chipper Jones sounds anything but… ahem… chipper about his immediate future.
After going 0 for 3 on Monday against the Cardinals and 0 for-8 with three walks in four games this exhibition season, Jones sounded like he may not make it to his 40th birthday next month in a Braves uniform.
"Tomorrow might be my last day," Jones told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I don't know. I don't really focus on it that much. The body is starting to tell me every morning when I wake up that it's getting close. I'm signed through the end of this year. If I play in a certain amount of games, I got an option for next year. I don't know what next year entails.
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Jones is scheduled to make $14 million this season and has a $7 million team option for 2013 that will vest at $9 million if he plays 123 games this season.
Jones played in 126 games in 2011, but did miss a chunk of time after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He had surgery to repair a torn ACL in 2010.
He did, apparently, back off the ledge, as O'Brien also quoted him as saying, "We'll give it this year and see how it feels."
Jones will be 40 on April 24 and will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer five years after he does retire. The top pick in the 1990 draft enters 2012 with 2,615 career hits and 454 home runs, with a career line of .304/.402/.533. He was selected to the All-Star team last season -- his first All-Star nod since 2008 -- but missed the game because of his knee surgery.
"I've said it a million times," Jones told O'Brien, "It's hell getting old."
