Chipper Jones lashes out at Hall of Fame voters over Andruw Jones with Yankees insult

CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki (both Yankees, to varying degrees) will officially highlight Cooperstown's five-man Baseball Hall of Fame induction class of 2025. That's left most baseball stars in a celebratory mood; Billy Wagner emotionally sailed in on his final ballot, and Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones made near-lock leaps for inclusion next time around.

Ask Chipper Jones, though, and there's no reason to pop bubbly until his former teammate is no longer on the outside looking in. On Tuesday night, he made it personal.

Chipper took to Twitter/X to pepper the baseball writers and fans with a thought assignment. Pretend "someone" had piled on 10 Gold Gloves, drilled 400 homers, and notched 1,300 RBI for the Yankees. Would that person be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, or would they still be waiting?

Those are Jones' statistics, of course, but the "15 years" part obscures the reality that Jones actually played 16 relatively full MLB seasons, with the last five being comparatively dreadful. If "that player" was a Yankee all along, their reputation might've been tarnished beyond repair. Instead, Jones got to hide, and will be inducted in 2026 based on his lofty peak.

Braves' Chipper Jones thinks Andruw Jones would already be a Hall of Famer if he'd played his whole career with Yankees, and...maybe?

"Jones on the Yankees" is an interesting Hall of Fame thought experiment. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing what that would look lik -- oh. Wait.

Additionally, let's say the Yankees of the '90s-2000s had employed a center fielder who was a core piece of their success on the largest stage. A center fielder who paired jaw-dropping power with spectacular catches and impressive range. A center fielder who received all of New York's glitz and glamor, feeding his narrative with postseason stardom. Let's call this hypothetical person ... Bernie Williams. He did play his whole prime in New York, and he's not in the Hall of Fame, either.

Sure, Jones wins the head-to-head in most areas over Williams (except rings, of course, where Bernie helped halt him annually). But while Williams never got to 400 homers, 287 with a 125 OPS+ makes him no slouch; Jones' 111 OPS+ surprisingly pales in comparison. Williams won four Gold Gloves, but Jones' absurd metrics helped boost his peak WAR; the two ended their careers with 49.6 and 62.7, respectively.

So, yes, Williams falls short, even with longevity at his side (1992-2004 was his wheelhouse, while Jones' career totals were built almost entirely from 1998-2006). According to Chipper's theory, though, shouldn't Williams' New York-driven star power have been enough to push him over the edge, even with an "inferior" career? Instead, he peaked at 9.6% of the vote in his first year eligible in 2012, and got kicked off the ballot the very next year; Jones will more than likely get elected next winter. So what are we even bothering to argue about here?

Ok, Chipper. We hear you. How about a compromise? Jones gets in next year, but he has to wear a Yankee hat on his plaque to better honor his amazing 2011-2012 seasons. Deal?