Chipper Jones confident of ‘monster’ rebound season

He's entering the first season of a three-year, $42 million contract extension signed last spring. However, Jones, who will turn 38 in April, has said he might retire after the upcoming season if he doesn't play better than he did in 2009.

During a recent, wide-ranging interview with the AJC, Jones reiterated that he was serious about retiring if he endures another season like 2009. But he also said he believes he will bounce back with a strong season and that he hopes to play a few more years with the Braves and help get them back to their erstwhile spot atop the NL East standings.

Q: How has the offseason gone so far for you and the family? What have you been up to?

A: All the boys [his four sons] are doing really good. I've been hunting quite a bit. Been to Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and here in Texas on a bunch of hunting trips. Buck Commander 3 [his hunting group's latest video production] is coming along really well. Everybody came in for the hunt [in Texas in December], all the Buck Commander guys, [country singers] Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean. Everybody had a great time, and everybody got a deer. First time we all harvested [shot deer]. Buck Commander 3 is going to be off the charts.

Q: Do you split your offseason between Atlanta and your Texas ranch?

A: Nah, I'm mostly in Atlanta. I'll end up spending somewhere around a month out here in the offseason, and I've got my other ranch in Oklahoma. I went to Rochy's place [Adam LaRoche's Kansas ranch] on another hunt.

Q: Have you started doing much baseball-type work yet this winter, or is it more strength-and-conditioning work to this point? How does that work with you, and has this offseason been any different in that regard?

A: I've been doing a lot of lifting. [He has weight rooms at his ranch and his suburban Atlanta home.] I put my weight back on; I'm probably around 230 right now. Just kind of putting it all back on, getting stronger, and then I'll probably start hitting [this] week. I've got a batting cage at the ranch, and I've got my hitting facility over at Suwanee that we [Jones, Brian McCann and others] go to three times a week or so.

Q: How do you feel?

A: I feel real good physically. I'm going to spend more time doing baseball stuff until the beginning of February, hopefully getting these [hitting] mechanics ironed out. I've got away from the game for a couple of months now, hopefully doing everything I can to forget about the mechanics I had last year. [He laughs.] I'm watching some video, hopefully regaining what I lost.

Q: Have you had a chance to look back on the season, look at video or do anything else to help sort of figure out why your slump lasted so much longer than previous ones in your career? Or do you just turn the page and move forward?

A: You look for positive reinforcement, so I look at some of the good things that I did [early in the season]. But from a standpoint of the entire year, I kind of want to forget it. Put that one in the rearview mirror and start over.

Q: Where would you rate last season on your personal scale?

A: The worst.

Q: You struggled despite being healthy for the most part. Did that make it all the more frustrating or disappointing for you?

A: Yeah. I could understand if I had some kind of crutch to fall back on, but I don't. Bottom line, things just didn't happen for me last year. I was close to busting loose a couple of times and just could never build up any momentum. It's one of the few times in my career that it happened, so I've got to consider it a fluke.

Q: Some fans seem to believe that you were hiding an injury, that you wouldn't have slumped for so long unless you were hurt. You've said before, and you're saying again now, that you didn't have an injury that led to your slump?

A: No, nothing more than what we [players] deal with on a daily basis. There were things that hurt, but nothing that would have prevented me from hitting .300 or hitting 20 homers or driving in 100 runs. Bottom line: hits and homers and RBI and runs scored didn't come as frequently last year as they have in the past.

Q: Were you as surprised as anyone, considering how productive you'd been in the previous three seasons?

A: I was a little surprised, but it just goes to show you what getting into a little fundamentals funk can do to you. I went three years and people had a rough time getting me out for the better part of that time. I didn't really go through any sustained period of slumping. And through the end of May last season I was right on course to do it again. Then I hit that slide -- I think I went 0-for-21. My average dropped about 40 points, and I couldn't get any momentum going the other way after that.

Q: How serious were you in September when you mentioned the possibility of retiring if you have a similar season in 2010? Could you really walk away from the two years and $28 million you'd have left on your contract at that point?

A: I'm on a year-to-year basis right now. If I go out and produce and have the same kind of season I always have had, everything will be fine. But I make no bones about it: There's certain parts of this lifestyle that I'm sick of. Quite frankly, I've lived out of suitcases for 20 years and I'm kind of tired of it. I've missed a lot of firsts with my family, missed being able to go on trips with the whole family in the summer. And there's certain politics that go with playing this game that I don't want to have to deal with.

On the other hand, you can only play this game for so long, and as long as I can play and have fun, I'll play. But if I feel like my talents are eroding, I will walk away.

Q: You've mentioned possibly coaching when you're done. Were you serious? Can you see yourself coaching or managing?

A: I'll consider coaching. I don't think you could pay me enough money to manage, to be honest with you [Jones laughs], after seeing what managing has done to Bobby [Cox]. But I would consider being a hitting coach. I prefer more of the specialist coaching rather than having my fingers on everything and having to answer to you guys [reporters] all the time -- I'd be like Lou Piniella. [Laughs again.] I think I'd want to get my feet wet in the coaching aspect first, and I'm sure whoever wants to hire me would want me to coach first, and that will tell me if I want to get into the managerial aspect. At this point in time I highly doubt it, but I could definitely see being a hitting coach at some point.

Q: Are you confident that you can rebound strongly from your 2009 season?

A: Yeah, I'm very confident. Nobody was as shocked as me to have the year that I had last year. Every year that I've had a bad one, I bounce back with a good one. I don’t see any reason why next year will be different. My skills have not diminished -- to my belief -- at this point. I slumped both offensively and defensively last year, but I'm still confident that I can go play third base. I've had these conversations with various people in the organization, and they remain confident that I can, too. I'm just going to use last year as a motivational tool and come back with a monster.

Who's going to hit third and who's going to play third [base]? I doubt it's going to be anybody else. I'll be 38 years old the first month of the season, and I'm going to be right where I was when I was 23.

Q: Are you pleased that that's the case?

A: Yeah, I'm happy with it. It's my responsibility to anchor the infield and anchor our lineup. And regardless of whether I hit well or field well, I'm still going to anchor it. I'm going to lead by example, and when kids have a question I'll answer it. I'm going to still be one of the leaders on the club. But I've always felt the best way is to lead by example, and that's to go out every day and play well both offensively and defensively.

Q: You've been asked a lot about possibly switching positions to first base and have consistently said you don't want to switch positions again.

A: I've pretty much made my thoughts clear about that. You know me -- if I'm thinking it, I'm going to say it. And I told [team officials], I'm not moving. I'll be willing to do stuff to help our ballclub win, but [changing positions] would have to be for the right personnel. Right now I'm sitting tight.

Q: By that, do you mean you'd only change positions if the Braves had a chance to bring in another big-time third baseman?

A: Major.