SMOLTZ LEAVES BRAVES: ‘It’s surreal’

John Smoltz was the bearded face of the Braves’ figurative Mount Rushmore, and now the great pitcher is leaving. There’s a hole in the heart of Braves Nation, as well as the team’s starting rotation.

The next time Smoltz pitches, it will be for the Boston Red Sox, who gave him a one-year, $5.5 million deal —- more than double the guaranteed amount offered by the Braves for a 41-year-old right-hander recovering from shoulder surgery.

“It’s sad for me and the team,” Braves reliever Blaine Boyer said, “but also sad for Braves fans.”

After 210 wins, 154 saves, 3,011 strikeouts and five arm surgeries in 21 years, the fiery “Smoltzie” is headed north.

“There were large discrepancies between the offer from the Braves and offers from other teams,” Smoltz said in a prepared statement Thursday, which he released in hopes of clarifying what he said were “misperceptions and inaccuracies” in reports about his negotiations with the Braves.

“I have always loved the city of Atlanta, and it will always be my home,” he said. “I will cherish my 21 years with Bobby Cox and all my Braves’ teammates. I continue to wish the Atlanta Braves nothing but success in the future.”

Cox said, “I wish him all the luck in the world with Boston. I guess they kind of blew his socks off there.”

While Braves CEO Terry McGuirk said he was “shocked and surprised” by Smoltz’s decision, teammates’ reactions ran more toward sadness or anger at the team’s refusal to do more to keep him.

“I’m [upset],” said third baseman Chipper Jones, using stronger language than that. “I’m really [upset]. … I’ve said all along, every dog has his day. Today, it’s Smoltz’s day. I dare say my day is not far off.”

Pitcher Tom Glavine, 42, is another unsigned free agent coming back from arm surgery. Glavine took a bigger offer from the Mets and spent five years in New York before returning to the Braves last season.

“I think as an athlete that’s been somewhere for a long time, it’s always difficult emotionally when you don’t feel like you’re getting the respect you deserve from your team,” Glavine said. “When somebody else steps in and shows you the love, so to speak, you kind of get that feeling of ‘Why doesn’t my team that I’ve been with for so long show this same kind of appreciation?’ “

Braves general manager Frank Wren said, “It was never that we didn’t want John back, or a lack of respect for John. Our priority was to have a pitching staff that would allow us to go into the season not concerned about rehabs and injuries and the things that set us back in 2008. And that still stands.”

Wren said the Braves’ offer reflected uncertainty about if and when Smoltz would be ready to pitch in 2009, adding that the Red Sox’s offer was worth more if Smoltz didn’t pitch, but the more he did pitch, the closer the offers became in value through the incentives packages.

“Anybody that sits in this chair will tell you the most difficult decision you make are with aging stars, plain and simple,” Wren said. “Because you respect them, you want them to be a part of your organization forever, but the reality is, they’re getting older and they’re not the same.”

Boyer, who grew up in Marietta idolizing Smoltz, spent the winter working out with him. When Smoltz told him he was leaving, Boyer found it hard to grasp.

“As far as I’m concerned, John Smoltz is the Atlanta Braves, for me growing up,” Boyer said. “Now that I’ve developed a strong relationship with him over the past few years, to see him going to Boston, it’s just sad.”

The Red Sox will pay him $5.5 million, and what are believed to be readily attainable incentives could push the total to $10 million. The Braves’ offer had a $2.5 million guarantee, rising to $5 million if he was on the major league roster 60 days. There were additional incentives that could have pushed the total as high as $12 million, but Smoltz would have had to total at least 200 innings and pitch very well to maximize the contract.

“John is a great guy,” McGuirk said. “He follows his own head, and I just don’t know what’s going on with him right now. We’ve offered less of a guarantee, but we’ve offered a substantial guarantee. Coming off an injury like this, we feel like it’s the right thing that we should be doing [in regards to the incentive-laden offer].

“We’ve offered him a package that would get him in the $10 million range, if he were to pitch a full season and pitch well. For him to walk away from that and to go to another place, I’m just shocked and surprised.”

In 2008, Smoltz had a 2.00 ERA in five starts before shoulder pain forced him to the disabled list. He tried to come back as a closer, but after one appearance he announced he would have surgery.

The procedure on his rotator cuff and labrum was considered career-threatening. Smoltz returned to the mound in December and wowed observers, including Cox and pitching coach Roger McDowell.

While Wren expressed cautious optimism and chose to wait before offering a contract, the Red Sox and other teams watched videotape of his bullpen session and became intrigued.

Carroll Rogers, Jeff Schultz and Terence Moore contributed to this article.