The Atlanta Braves just made their smartest move since Frank Wren was hired as General Manager. They signed their star third baseman, Chipper Jones, through 2012 for $42 million.
The 36 (nearly 37) year old third baseman has been the heart and soul of the Atlanta Braves organization for over 10 years, and it seems that it will stay that way until he decides to call it quits.
While battling injuries for the last five seasons, Chipper has managed to hit .314, including .337 and .364 in the last two seasons. After making a run at the batting title in 2007, he held on to win it in 2008, hitting .400 through June.
He also went to his first All-Star game in seven years, as he racked up the National League's first hit while starting at third. Though the season was memorable in the career of a future Hall of Famer, he continued the injury plague that has harassed him seemingly forever.
Many Braves fans, such as myself, hope that he can manage a 150+ game season. With already suffering an injury at the WBC, the odds don't seem too high. If there's one guy the Braves don't want getting hurt this season, it's Chipper Jones.
The pitching staff has been vastly improved, and an injury there would not be as significant as the loss of one of the Braves' few consistent bats.
The performance Chipper put up in 2008 is extremely rare of an aging player such as himself, as he not only had a superb season at the plate, but defensively as well. Chipper was cheated out of the Gold Glove for the second straight year, as anyone with a brain could clearly tell Chipper was better then New York's David Wright at third.
I think we can all look forward to another remarkable season by the lifelong Brave—hopefully a healthy one as well.
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