Chipper Jones wants to finish his career with the Braves.
Via The Hardball Times, Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves are close to an extension through 2013:
It appears Chipper Jones may get his wish to remain with the Braves throughout his entire career.
While Craig Calcaterra likes this move, I’m not crazy about it. You don’t know when Chipper’s career will suddenly nosedive, and if it’s sooner than later the team is stuck with the contract. Why not do a deal with a series of one year options, similar to what the Red Sox did with Tim Wakefield? Chipper wants to stay with the Braves, and the Braves want Chipper to be the face of the franchise. The one year options accomplish that without the risk of hurting the team long term.
The Yankees may also want to consider doing this with Jeter when his contract expires at the end of 2010.
But aren’t all those options weighted very heavily towards the team? That is, if they want Wakefield/Chipper/Jeter back for cheap (in Wakefield’s case, at least) they can, but if the player wants to come back, they’re out of luck.
As nice as team loyalty is, if I’m still in my productive years, I’m going to try to lock up something relatively long-term in case the decline is quicker than I expect. See, unfortunately, Travis Hafner. Or, today, Sheff.
I could see a sweetheart deal for these guys that want to stay with their teams for the career, but a contract that hands over all the power to the team seems like a bad deal for the player.
Or do I have the details of Wake’s contract off?
The yearly salary of Tim Wakefield’s contract is fairly low. That gives the Red Sox a reason to keep him on the roster every year for a long time. It also gives Tim an incentive to play well every year. The Red Sox and Wakefield represent an mutual admiration society. If Jones and the Braves have that kind of relationship, why not play year to year?
The question is moot now as they agreed to a contract through 2012 with an option for 2013.
Well because some other team might be willing to take the long-term risks that having such an awesome player like Chipper carries.
If you are not willing to do a long term deal other team will.
Considering how long the Players Assoc. fought to get rid of the Reserve Clause, they probably weren’t too happy with Wakefield bringing it back.