Comments on: Chipper Jones might retire next year

By: Peter Earl

Peter Earl — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:13:14 +0000

Chipper Jones is a sure fire HOF’er and should be a first balloteer. If you put A. Rodriguez back at his natural SS position, what player outshines Jones at 3B in the last 10-15 years? I want to see him come back as a baseball fan, despite the fact that he’s in the same division as my Marlins.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:33:27 +0000

Chipper will make the Hall and before his 7th year. He’s top-70 in wOBA, will be top-50 in RBIs after next year, and will be top-40 in HRs by the end of this season. He’s top-20 in HRs among those playing the 5 top skill positions (C, SS, 2B, CF, 3B). He’s only the 3rd switch hitter to clear 400 homers (Mantle, Murray, and Chipper) and is tied for the record for consecutive games with an XBH. By the end of the year, he’ll have more wRC than Mike Schmidt, the premier power-hitting 3B of all time. To mention a few things voters care about, he’s also won an MVP, a batting title (at age 36!), and a WS. The dude is in.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:51:11 +0000

Chipper may not be having fun, but neither is he a drag on the team. His OBP remains near .400 (it has dipped to .390 recently), which leads the team, and he’s second in runs scored. Injuries are sapping his power, but the more serious problem with the offense is the lack of production from the outfield and first base (especially before we raided the Pirates for McLouth and LaRoche). Why on earth did they take Anderson instead of Abreu or Dunn? Garrett refuses to take walks, which explains why he has scored about 400 fewer runs in his career than Chipper. He gets even more obstinate with the bases loaded and walks about once a year in that situation. Bring on Heyward before Chipper is gone!

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:50:57 +0000

Say he puts up roughly the same numbers next year as this year and then quits. Does he make the HoF?

I've always liked the guy, and I hope he would, but he seems to be a borderline case. Black and Gray Ink have him below the "likely" thresholds, while Hall of Fame Monitor and Hall of Fame Standards seem to suggest he could do it.

The man was obviously a fantastic offensive player throughout his career, and even this year he's been far from even mediocre (119 OPS+). I don't know what the consensus is on his defense, so I'm going to assume it's average. His comps on B-R are another group of boderline cases, the only HoFer of whom is Duke Snider, who is a CF. Piazza is another comp, and he was a catcher. Bagwell, a first baseman, will probably get in. Sheffield is iffy.

I dunno, I say he should get in, and probably will in about year 7 of eligibility. I hope he keeps playing a while, though. He's still a good player, if a bit brittle.