Chipper Jones’ response to Braves manager job question was extremely telling

2025 MLB All-Star Week: Futures Game
2025 MLB All-Star Week: Futures Game | Matt Dirksen/GettyImages

Atlanta Braves fans are slowly accepting the reality that Brian Snitker is very likely to retire after the 2025 season. Snitker was already hinting that retirement was in the cards before the season started, but the whispers have only grown louder as the Braves struggled more and more this season and now you will struggle to find anyone that thinks Snit is going to stick around for another year. Naturally, that means there has been some discussion about who could replace Snitker as Atlanta's skipper.

There is an obvious internal candidate in bench coach Walt Weiss and we can probably expect names like Skip Schumaker, Mark DeRosa, and David Ross to come up in the coming weeks and months as well. However, Braves legend Chipper Jones recently managed in the Futures Game and that understandably led to him being asked about being the Braves' manager in the future.

It is safe to say that Chipper is not interested in managing based on his answer.

Don't expect Chipper Jones to join the coaching staff full-time anytime soon

Jones was quick to say that with his family obligations, he simply does not have the time to manage a team full-time and travel with them anymore. He elaborated by saying, "“I’ve still got three boys at home and seven boys in total. They keep me plenty busy. You have to be completely committed to be a coach or a manager. And I just don't know that I could serve the spot as well as I should, because I'm, quite frankly, being pulled in more important directions.”

That is a perfectly reasonable point of view. Chipper already devoted 19 seasons to playing in the big leagues and that doesn't include all of that time in the minors and as an amateur that was committed to playing baseball. He deserves all the rest and distance from the game that he wants and it seems like he is a fan of his part-time gig with the team.

However, Jones also (probably correctly) said that hiring him for a job in Atlanta that is very likely to end with him being dismissed in some form creates it's own problems for a franchise icon like him and the team. "“I keep asking myself, why would any general manager, especially here in Atlanta, want to hire me for a fireable spot? Would you want to be the general manager that has to fire me? That's a bad PR move."

It is an interesting take and given how impulsively outspoken Jones can be at times, it is a fair concern. Jones is beloved by Braves fans and if things didn't work out as manager, the drama would get ugly in a hurry. As a result, you may not want to hold your breath waiting for Chipper to manage the Braves.

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