Chipper: Rivals 'can't keep their mouths shut'
Braves slugger says Phils, Mets should just 'win with class, lose with class'
 John Bazemore / AP Braves third baseman Chipper Jones kneels on second base after hitting a double and injuring his leg in the fifth inning April 20, 2008. |
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Sporting News Today's Ken Bradley recently spoke with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones about all topics baseball. In Thursday's edition, we included Chipper's favorite memories of recently retired teammate Greg Maddux. This time, Chipper comments on the New York teams' big offseason spending, Braves phenom Tommy Hanson and more.
Chipper on the Mets acquiring relievers Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz:
The rich get richer. It's becoming more and more apparent that the bigger markets are crushing the smaller markets with these signings. From a Mets standpoint, they've had a running feud with the Phillies the past couple of years. It's kind of weird not to be in it.
We won for 14 consecutive years, and you never, ever saw any bulletin board material. And now that these two teams are on top of the division, they can't keep their mouths shut. Just go play baseball. It's Cole Hamels now. It was Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran the past couple of springs. These two teams are constantly going at each other verbally. You know, win with class, lose with class. Just keep your mouth shut and go play your game.
I think that the Mets have something to prove after the past couple of years, having lost big leads in September. I think their bullpen was a big part of that, especially last year, so it was imperative that they go out and make a splash with their bullpen. And they certainly did.
The Mets picked up the two best closers in the American League West for their bullpen, and they're basically making it a seven-inning game. You'd better be winning the game after seven innings. If you're not, you're pretty much done.
Chipper on the Braves pulling out of the Jake Peavy trade talks:
If Jake wanted to play in Atlanta, Jake would be in Atlanta. Jake is in control of this whole thing. There was a deal in place, and Jake didn't want to play here. So Jake's not playing here. Jake wanted to play in Chicago, and they tried to make it work. Chicago couldn't get rid of salary it needed to get rid of, and the deal fell through. That's not to say it won't get done later on, but I guess your job as general manager is to go out and get the best deal possible. Certainly, a month ago when Padres G.M. Kevin Towers was fielding offers from four, five, six teams, the best offer on the table was ours.
But Jake didn't want to play here.
I don't know why we were on his wish list, but that's baseball. That's one of the rights that he has with his no-trade clause. I would be hard-pressed to think San Diego is ever going to give out another no-trade clause. This is a prime example why the Atlanta Braves have a strict no-trade-clause policy. They're not going to give any player who comes through here a no-trade clause. I don't care if it's Hank Aaron. I don't care if it's Mickey Mantle.
Chipper on Braves phenom Tommy Hanson:
I'm excited to see him; I've only seen clips of him online. Everybody I've talked to says he is the next big thing. He's 6-6, throws 94-95 mph, he has movement and he has four pitches he can throw for strikes. He went to the Arizona Fall League and just dominated hitters and was MVP of the league.
Everything has been good from what I've seen. Hanson probably has the best stuff of anybody in the organization right now--even at the big league level. If there is one kid in the whole organization who is untouchable in a trade--that was one of the hang-ups in the Peavy deal--it would be this kid. He's as good as advertised. He's going to have a chance to make this club out of spring training. If we don't make a trade for a No. 1 starter, I'd say it's a pretty good bet the kid could be on the opening day roster. He's not going to be starting Game 1, but you'll probably see him the first week of the season.
Chipper on the Yankees' offseason spending:
It's never happened to me personally, but I think anybody who hits the free agent market is going to wait and see what the offer is from the Yankees. Because everybody knows that they're going to inflate the price. Whether they get you or not, they're going to hike the price up.
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Ten or 15 years ago, we could lure people to Atlanta strictly on reputation. You knew we were going to win, and we had a bunch of good players. Players would shun money from New York and take less to come here. For the past three seasons, we've kind of been on the downslide and not making the playoffs, so you can't do that anymore. We can't compete monetarily, so the only way we're going to get players in here to play and win is to force them--and that's done by trading.
The downside to trading is that it weakens your minor league system. But the only way that we are going to win now is through trades. We just don't have enough money to compete with the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago teams.
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