Chipper Jones and Dr. Marvin Royster convened Monday for another knee surgery on the Braves third baseman, who had a successful arthroscopic procedure for torn meniscus and hopes to be back for the April 13 home opener against Milwaukee.

“So far, so good,” Jones said in a text message to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A little groggy.”

Jones injured his left knee during a stretching drill on Thursday, only about an hour before a previously scheduled press conference in which he announced this would be his final season as a player. He returned to Atlanta for the surgery. (David O’Brien – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

This is just another reason why he’s retiring. It’s his sixth knee surgery, this meniscus surgery was on his left knee and don’t forget he had the same thing on his right knee last summer.

Thankfully it’s just a minor procedure would hate to see him miss significant time during his farewell tour.

@JonHeymanCBS: #mets have talked to ronny cedeno as well as jack wilson for infield opening. both players have other options, as well

Hearing about Cedeno actually adds some intrigue to the search. If I had to choose between the two I’d go with Ronny. Neither are that great of players but when it comes to a backup infielder utility/role I like the youngster. That’s right youngster, Ronny is only 28 and slightly more productive the Wilson but also able to help in the outfield.

I’m just not sure if the Mets are a team that Cedeno is interested. Ronny has other teams looking at him, mainly the Mets division rival the Atlanta Braves. A team that can pay him more but more importantly give him a better chance at winning in 2012 and beyond.

@ajcbraves: Ronny Cedeno still in play, and #Braves are among teams interested in him. He’s been on their backup SS/utility list all along.

With the Mets recent history, I feel they’ll end up with the older, washed up Jack Wilson.

Braves pitcher Tim Hudson had back surgery for a herniated disc on Monday, and doctors said the 36-year-old right-hander should be fully recovered for spring training.

His back bothered him to varying degrees for the past two seasons, but surgery was necessitated only after the pain increased during Hudson’s recent offseason workouts. He could be cleared to resume throwing in about six weeks. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

I have two questions here and they are completely opposite of each other.

First, how quickly can he respond at his age? Will he be as effective after the surgery?
Second, how good can he be now that he’s healthy?

Over the past two seasons, Hudson has been pretty effective while dealing with the back pain. Over the past two seasons he has a combined 3.03 ERA over 443 innings pitched with 287 strikeouts. That’s pretty good numbers for any pitcher in general but even more impressive when you consider the pain and stiffness he’s been dealing with.

I think in 2012 we can expect around career numbers from Hudson but after a slow start. If he can’t begin throwing for six weeks he’ll be slightly behind other pitchers BUT he should round in to his normal form sometime between mid-May and early-June. Which would leave more then enough time to put up his typically good numbers.

The Rockies have talked with Atlanta. Multiple executives said that the Braves are still in a fact-finding stage, trying to determine what they want in return a player who could start at second or third base for the Rockies. The discussions are expected to restart at the general manager’s meetings that begin Tuesday in Milwaukee. (Troy Renck – Denver Post)

With a weak market at the position and Ellis off the board, you would have to think the Rockies are reaching the desperation point right? General Manager Dan O’Dowd would like you to believe other wise “We had interest in both players, but we have other things going on and there is a lot of winter left. “We are very comfortable with our in-house options.”

I think he’s blowing smoke so the Braves don’t try to rape his organization of it’s talent. It’s been known that the Braves are interested in outfielder Seth Smith, while also having interest in Charlie Blackmon and Tim Wheeler (two guys they’d like to not move). They’ve also expressed interest in Dexter Fowler, an Atlanta native.

Personally, if I was the Rockies giving up Smith and Blackmon or Wheeler may be worth it. Prado is a legitimate talent who can help solidify the middle of the Rockies infield for years to come.

Prado had an off year in 2011, batting .260 with 13 homers and 57 rbi. For his career though he’s got a .293 average with career highs of 40 doubles and 15 homers.

The problem for the Rockies though again, is how much the Braves are going to ask for. As more teams get interested, the Detroit Tigers are now in the mix, the price will only go up. Which means the Rockies need to strike fast and get things done before the Baseball Winter Meetings in December.

A dye-contrasted MRI taken on Friday showed that Hanson has a small “undersurface” rotator cuff tear, which typically doesn’t require surgery. Hanson said Andrews just called it normal wear and tear for a pitcher when Hanson visited him in his Pensacola, Fla. office on Monday.

“Andrews said there are a lot of guys that are way worse off than me,” said Hanson, who was told by Braves orthopedic surgeon Xavier Duralde that 75 percent of pitchers have something similar. “Just hearing it’s normal wear and tear (that) just for whatever reason got inflamed definitely gives me some peace of mind and I’m a lot happier after seeing (Andrews) than I was over the weekend.” (David O’Brien – Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Hearing that you have nothing but wear and tear is a good thing. It’s still troubling to me to hear that normal wear and tear has bothered a player for the entire season. Does that mean this kid is a softie and can’t play through a little bit of pain?

But anyways with it being just normal wear and tear, O’Brien says that Hanson should be able to begin throwing within a couple day, pain permitting of course. If there’s any pain Hanson plans on taking a seat to avoid rushing things.

“I want to get back as soon as possible, but at the same time I’ve got to be smart and I don’t want to have another setback,” Hanson said. “I’ve got to continue to work and take it a little bit slower and try to get back as soon as I can.”

“They think maybe we haven’t given it enough time, maybe he needs a little bit more rest,” Gonzalez said. “The test before showed nothing, just showed a little tendinitis. But sometimes you want something to happen quickly and it takes a little longer.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The team is saying what any team should it’s just fatigue and you know what it might be just that. Remember, Phil Hughes of the New York Yankees had that long break and then a setback but now he’s back to firing bullets. Then again more times then not that’s not it.

Still it’s always troubling seeing a young pitcher like Hanson, 25, experiencing arm issues after a huge workload the prior season. Last season he jumped from 127 innings to 202 innings. That’s a significant jump which is why the Braves are playing it safe and it seems like shutting him down.

Hopefully it’s nothing and he’ll be back on the mound soon. If it’s another young pitcher with a major arm injury then let the debate on whether organizations baby young pitchers in the minors too much begin.

I know you guys are thinking great, I’ll expirement with ya.. Well, she is single now she recently split from her long time boyfriend Macaulay Culkin so maybe you all have a chance. Well, actually I doubt any of us do but hey in the meantime enjoy some sports links and some pics of one of the hottest actresses on the market today.

Hugging Harold Reynolds – Rachael Ray: Huge Sav Rocca Fan
Ted Williams Head – Antonio Pierce Says Players Should Begin Strike During NFL Playoffs
Foul Balls – Carlos Boozer Seems Kind Of Pissed
Arrowhead Addict – Vince Lombardi Playoff Pep Talk

The NFL Chick – Video: And The Rex Ryan Jokes Continue……
Babes Love Baseball – Dan Uggla Gets Five-Year Deal from Braves
Unathletic Mag – Offseason NFL QB Carousel Should Be Interesting
PSAMP – Ben Roethlisberger = AFC Offensive Player of the Week

Larry Brown Sports – Floyd Mayweather Jr. Heckled by Manny Pacquiao Fans While Shopping
Gunaxin – How Are You STILL An NFL Head Coach!?
Total Pro Sports – Russian Under-20 Hockey Team Kicked Off Flight After Night Of Celebratory Drinking
Sportress of Blogitude – Yellow Ledbetter: Ex-CFL QB Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison

No one is quite sure of the reasoning but in his official press release Marlins owner Jeffrey Lori made some interesting statements. One of which is that the move was made cause this team can do even better and he wants to win, again I’m not sure if any manager can do much better with this team.

Decisions on individual personnel cannot supercede our overall goal, which is to win. We believe we can do better and be better. We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That’s the reason we’re making this change.

We still have a very long season in front of us, and plenty of time to turn things around. Everyone – our fans, our team, our organization, and myself – wants us to win. That continues to be, and will always be, the goal.

Gonzalez took over during the 2007 season and has compiled a 276-279 record and I’m sorry that’s a good record if you’re the coach of the Florida Marlins. Fredi won’t be short of opportunities this winter, in fact some think he’ll be the leading candidate to replace Bobby Cox as the next manager of the Atlanta Braves.

David O’Brien of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution even says via Twitter, “To reiterate my oft-expressed view, if Fredi Gonzalez is available, he immediately moves to top of the list of potential Cox replacements.”

@ajcbraves: Chipper retiring? I haven’t confirmed this, but heard from 2 people that Larry Wayne Jones is set to announce he’s retiring at end of season

That was the initial statement this morning. A short time after tweeting that, O’Brien followed it up with an article at the AJC stating that Jones will address the media this afternoon.

It’s no surprise that Chipper has decided to hang things up, the writing has been on the wall for a couple years now. Injuries have hampered his production over the years and even now he’s not performing anywhere close to what he used too. What do you expect, he is 38 years old and there aren’t many players that age that can match their earlier production.

This season, Jones is batting only a .228 with 3 homers and 22 runs batted in over 167 at bats. Just two years ago he hit .364 with 22 homers so that’s a huge difference and it was a quick decline, as in 2009 he only batted .264.

Jones has been the ultimate team player over his career and that’s never been more evident then now. Jones sees his production declining and that the Braves have plenty of young kids ready to step right in. So what did he do? He stepped aside.

For one they’ve got the rookie phenom Jason Heyward, who definitely belongs in the heart of a lineup. Chipper saw that and that Jason could be much more productive so he openly lobbied for him to bat in his third spot. Next, he lent his support to Omar Infante and youngster Brooks Conrad, both of whom have performed very well during his absences.

Just like the kid, I’ll be very sad to see Chipper leave the game. He’s been a class act his entire career and just one of the all around good guys in baseball. He’ll be missed and with the current set of retirements you can feel the end of an era nearing.

“I think everyone understands that with the [broadcasting] role I have now, I don’t mind saying the chances [of pitching] are pretty slim. I don’t know what slim means. Maybe I make that announcement in 10 days. Maybe in 30 days. Just let me get through this week. I can’t imagine it will go on that long. But there are a lot of things swimming through my head right now.”

For those that don’t know, the broadcasting role that Smoltz is talking about is the deal he just signed with TBS. He’ll be a regular season and playoff analyst for the station. He’ll also be working alongside Bob Costas in the booth for games to be aired on MLB Network.

But back to the retirement issue. In the interview, Smoltz said “I would say 50-1.” in reference to the odds of him playing again. Those aren’t good odds at all.

When you look at the quote above and those odds, it looks like Smoltz has made his decision and just can’t bring himself to making the announcement. Can you blame him? He’s not that old, only 42, and still having mild success in the big leagues. He’s also had such a great career that it’s got to be hard to walk away from that, especially when you consider he still has some gas left in the tank.

Working with TBS and MLB Network should help in him moving on as he’ll still be very close to the game he’s dedicated to his life too. His knowledge should also be entertaining in the booth with the walking encyclopedia Costas.

I was never a Braves fan but I’ve always respected what the trio of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Smoltz did in there time. Smoltz is a sure fire Hall-Of-Famer for the numbers he put up during baseballs “Steroid Era” and will be a great ambassador for the game.

The one thing that would I like to see is Smoltz sign a one-day contract with the Atlanta Braves so he can retire in the uniform he belongs in.

I would say head over to the Atlanta-Journal and read Schultz’s interview it’s pretty good. There were some other quotes in there that really tell you John is ready to move on to the next phase of his life.