Viera, Fla. — Javy Lopez's attempted comeback is over, and apparently so is his career.

Soon after manager Bobby Cox told Lopez on Saturday morning that he had been dropped from the Braves' camp roster, the catcher told general manager Frank Wren that he would retire.

AP (ENLARGE)

Javy Lopez, the 37-year-old slugger has a .287 career average with 260 home runs and 864 RBIs, including 214 home runs and 694 RBIs in 12 seasons with the Braves through 2003.

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"Javy had a great career with the Braves," Wren said. "He put up some numbers that are going to be hard to ever beat, from the standpoint of offensive performance from the [catcher] position.

"He told me he really wants to retire as a Brave, said he thinks of himself as a Brave after spending the bulk of his career here. And that's how we think of him, too."

The 37-year-old slugger has a .287 career average with 260 home runs and 864 RBIs, including 214 home runs and 694 RBIs in 12 seasons with the Braves through 2003.

"It's a sad day," third baseman Chipper Jones said. "I know fans of Atlanta are disappointed who were looking forward to seeing him back. Every time he came up to bat during spring training, the loudest ovation was for Javy. ...

"When you look at the majority of the run we had over 14 years, he was one of the most important cogs."

The Braves will go with journeyman Corky Miller, rookie Clint Sammons or switch-hitter Brayan Pena as the backup to two-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann.

"We thought he needed more time" to regain his form, Cox said of Lopez, who hit .182 (6-for-32) with two home runs, seven RBIs and six strikeouts in 12 spring-training games.

Cox told Lopez the Braves might have a spot for him at Class AAA Richmond to get more at-bats, but that they wouldn't know for sure right away. Lopez said he wanted to consider whether to retire or wait and accept a minor-league assignment, if it came.

But within a few hours, he told Wren he had decided to call it a career.

Jones was teammates with Lopez for more than a decade, beginning with their championship Class AA Greenville club in 1992. He said Lopez was crucial to the Braves' division-title run.

"He was responsible for catching that [pitching] staff we had," Jones said, "and he got better defensively through the years. But he was known for his bat. Tremendous offensive player.

"And a fan favorite — everybody loved Javy. His teammates loved him. He was a good guy."

Lopez averaged 24 homers and 69 RBIs for the Braves during a 10-year stretch through 2003, and made the National League All-Star team in 1997, 1998 and 2003.

He finished fifth in the league MVP voting in 2003 after one of the greatest offensive seasons by any catcher in history, with career bests in average (.328), home runs (43) and RBIs (109). All but one of those homers came as a catcher, breaking the single-season record for the position.

He was a postseason hero for the Braves in Game 2 of the 1995 World Series, when Lopez hit a tie-breaking two-run homer off Cleveland's Dennis Martinez in the sixth inning. After the Indians cut the lead to a run, Lopez picked off Manny Ramirez at first base to erase a potential tying run.

Lopez was named MVP of the 1996 NL Championship Series against St. Louis after hitting .542 with five doubles, two homers and six RBIs.

Lopez went to Baltimore as a free agent after the 2003 season, but he kept his primary residence in Atlanta's northern suburbs while bouncing among the Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, who cut him a year ago during spring training. He didn't play in 2007.

He worked all winter to improve his defense, and the Braves signed him to a minor-league contract that included a $750,000 salary if he made the team out of spring training.

But it became apparent he wasn't quite the fearsome slugger he had been years ago, and his defense was still not up to the standards of his competition.

"He caught and received the ball really well, and his blocking [balls was good]," Cox said. "With his throwing, he needed more time."

Wren said in some years Lopez might have earned the backup job, but the Braves are well-stocked with candidates including Miller, another experienced veteran.

Lopez hit 23 or more homers in six of his 13 full seasons in the majors, but his production began to decline in 2005 when he hit .278 with 15 homers and 49 RBIs in an injury-plagued season.

He hit .251 with eight homers and 35 RBIs in 94 games for Baltimore and Boston in 2006.