Chipper Jones, future Hall of Famer, suggested he doesn't have too much more time left as a major-league baseball player. Scouts who have seen him this spring would agree.
"He looks terrible,'' one National League scout said.
That scout added that Jones appears to be moving in "slow motion.''
Jones has looked so bad, in fact, that it probably doesn't take an expert opinion to understand this. He is 0 for 8 and has missed five games because of leg soreness.
One good thing about Jones is that he is far from delusional. He understands what's going on.
"The body is starting to tell me every day when I wake up that [retirement] is getting close,'' Jones told writers, including David O'Brien of tha Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Monday. "I'm signed through the end of this year. If I play in a certain amount of games, I get an option for next year. I don't know what next year entails ... I don't know if I can make it through this year.''
He has $14 million worth of reasons in the form of guaranteed money to make it through this year. But it's hard to see him getting the 123 games that would vest and bump next year's option to $9 million. If he doesn't reach 123 games, the Braves have the option at $7 million.
Right now it's hard to see the other side happily agreeing to a second season for Jones. Even this year doesn't look so solid the way it's going now.
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