Third baseman Chipper Jones will retire at the end of the 2012 season, the Atlanta Braves said.

The third baseman, who has spent his entire 18-year career with Atlanta, has battled injuries the past several seasons and actually decided to retire in 2010, only to change his mind.

This time, he means it.

The Braves said the team and Jones, who will turn 40 next month, have expressed interest in him remaining with the franchise in a yet-to-be-determined capacity after he retires.

During the early days of spring training, Jones marveled he was still with the Braves with his milestone birthday coming up in April.

"Never in my mid-20s would I have given myself a snowball's chance to be in camp and have a job at 40 years old," Jones told The Associated Press. "But I like to think I've kept myself in pretty good shape over the years. The skills are still there to go out and get it done. I don't know for how much longer, but we're gonna ride it as long as we can."

Former Braves manager Bobby Cox said Jones should go into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

"No doubt," Cox said. "A switch-hitter who has played on winners and done everything he's done."

Former Braves pitcher Greg Maddux, who was visiting the Texas Rangers' spring training facility on Thursday -- his brother Mike is the Rangers' pitching coach -- said he was proud to call Jones a teammate.

Maddux joked that Jones always could change his mind, but noted how difficult it is for one player to spend an entire career with the same organization.

"I think it's awesome," Maddux said. "He's had a great career. He's a winner. He played to win every day. He was a great hitter and was very well prepared. He meant a lot to that franchise and still means a lot to that franchise."

Jones has indicated his most likely post-career option is working as a hitting instructor.

"I think I'd be better off as a specialty coach," Jones told the AP last month. "I have such a passion for hitting. I'm kind of a one-track-mind kind of guy.

"While I think I could manage, I really don't have the urge to manage. I'd much rather be a hitting coach than a manager."