Chipper Jones' reaction to potential Braves gig is music to fans' ears

After limping into the All-Star Game with seven losses in their last 10 games, a stretch that now has them sitting a whopping 9.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, the Atlanta Braves and their fans have officially started to focus on 2026 and beyond. (Alex Anthopoulos more or less said as much last week, when he hinted that pending free agents like Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias could be available at the trade deadline.)

There's a lot of work to do to get this team back to contention by next spring, but the first item on the list has to be finding a long-term solution at manager. Brian Snitker was already leaning towards retirement this winter, and given his struggles both in the clubhouse and with the media this year, Atlanta probably isn't too broken up about that fact. So the question becomes: Who will the Braves find to replace him?

The name at or very near the top of fans' wish lists would probably be Chipper Jones, who has remained plugged in to the team for which he played all 19 years of his MLB career. But while Jones is as big a Braves fan as anyone, he poured some cold water on the idea that he might look to follow in his mentor Bobby Cox's footsteps — at least not right now.

In an interview with Atlanta's 680 The Fan, Jones admitted that the "lure of Atlanta Braves baseball, wearing the uniform and being around the fellas is real." But after over two decades of playing professionally, he sounds like he's not quite ready to get back into the grind just yet, saying that "I'm content with life away from baseball right now."

But while Jones won't be in the Braves dugout anytime soon, he did leave the door very much open to a different sort of role, one that would allow him to help shape the team moving forward while still accommodating his desire to stay close to home. And if Alex Anthopoulos is smart, he'd take him up on it in a heartbeat.

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Braves have no reason not to bring Chipper Jones back into the fold

Jones added in the interview that his dream job would be to serve as an assistant GM. And you can understand why: It would allow him to come to the ballpark every day and be around the game and the organization, while also allowing him to head home every night without hopping on a plane for a road trip or staying up all hours working the phones ahead of the trade deadline.

Atlanta has every reason to want Jones around as much as possible, not just because of the knowledge he's accrued as one of the best pure hitters of his generation but also because of the good will it would engender among fans amid a rough season. While Jones doesn't have any front-office experience as yet, what we've seen and heard from him in the past suggests he'd be the ideal blend between old-school and new; he's not an enemy of the modern game, but he also has a feel for how to talk to and evaluate players that Anthopoulos could certainly use.

There will no doubt be some significant changes coming to the Braves over the next few months, even if the roster doesn't get shaken up quite as much as fans would like. A new manager and a new hitting coach, for instance, would be a pretty great start. In addition, though, the team would be wise to keep Jones in house, if for no other reason than to pacify fans who (understandably) want a different voice in the room right now.