Q&A / CHIPPER JONES: Ace ‘deserved opportunity’ to come back with Braves

Chipper Jones took the news of John Smoltz’s departure extremely hard, both in a conversation with Smoltz on the phone Wednesday night and in conversations with AJC reporters Thursday.

When speaking with reporter Carroll Rogers Thursday afternoon, and in a subsequent conversation with columnist Jeff Schultz, Jones had some harsh words for the way his former teammate was treated by the Braves. He also raised some doubts about how his own career with the Braves might end.

Q. How did you take all this?

A. I am disappointed. Very disappointed. Deflated. Frustrated. It’s been a very long offseason, not a lot of stuff to really get excited about, and then to have this, it just is the icing on the cake for me.

Q. You understand why Smoltz decided to sign with Boston?

A. I get it. Ultimately, it’s Smoltzie’s decision to go. But I don’t think anybody is blaming him. The money is significantly different. He doesn’t feel like the Braves are giving him the same respect that the Red Sox are. … My whole thing is John Smoltz has earned the right and earned the respect of everybody here if he wants to come back and pitch and says he is healthy enough, he deserves that opportunity. And you do whatever it takes to get it done. We’ve made so many gambles on players that haven’t panned out over the past few years, and if there was one guy in that clubhouse that I’m going to gamble a couple of million dollars on, it’s going to be that guy. If he says he can do it, I believe him.

Q. Fans are questioning why the Braves didn’t offer Smoltz more money when this is an offseason when the Braves have said they had money to spend. Do you agree?

A. For Smoltzie! That’s what I don’t understand. That’s what’s frustrating. I’m trying to be as diplomatic and as upbeat as I can possibly be, and it is being made very hard on me to be that way. John Smoltz has been one of the faces of this franchise for 20 years. There’s no reason for him at 41 years old to be playing anywhere but here.

Q. How was he when you talked to him last night?

A. He went through the whole scenario with me. The underlying tone was extreme disappointment —- and from my end it was shock. I could see anyone else going somewhere before John Smoltz. … After everything that’s happened to this organization this winter, the players and the fans need something good to happen. I’ve been keeping up with the news. I’ve been reading the blogs. The one silver lining we had was John Smoltz being back in the lineup this year. We could have had that dominant guy back in the lineup. But we won’t —- and for what, a couple of million dollars?

Q. You worried now about how things might end with you?

A. I don’t know how it’s going to end with me. This is my last year under contract with Atlanta. And this last 24 hours certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by me. I haven’t been offered an extension. If we’re 15 games out in July or August, I doubt they’re just going to let me become a free agent and get nothing in return.

Q. So you’re preparing yourself to be traded?

A. It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities.

Q. Were you expecting the Braves to make you an offer for an extension this winter?

A. I was told that it was going to happen by the Braves.

Q. Do you think it still might?

A. We’ve got over a month until spring training. Yeah, it could certainly happen. I’ve just been chalking it up to the Braves have bigger fish to fry. But it seems like somebody keeps coming along and eating all our fish.

Q. Did you have a chance to tell him you’ll miss him, what he’s meant to this organization?

A. We were so upset and so shocked that this is happening. We didn’t even really think about what could happen, that we’d be facing each other, that he could be pitching at [Turner Field] for Boston, that we could be facing him in Fenway Park. We didn’t even allow ourselves to think about that kind of stuff. We’re so shocked that this is actually taking place and that he’s moving on and playing for a different team. I wished him good luck. It’s like losing a brother. We’ve been to war with each other for the last 17 years. Now that’s not going to happen anymore. It’s very upsetting.