"This is not the way Tom Glavine thought it would go, and that's what hurt the most.

The 305-game winner said Friday he felt "a sense of betrayal" over his release by the Braves. He thought he would be returning to the mound Sunday from elbow and shoulder surgery.

Instead, the day after he finished his rehabilitation, he found out prospect Tommy Hanson would replace him.

Glavine dissected his version of what had happened, speaking publicly for the first time since his release on Wednesday.

It boiled down to this: Glavine felt the Braves misled him, in both their intentions during his rehabilitation and their explanation of why they were parting ways.

He went so far as to say he believed the Braves hoped he would break down during his final three rehabilitation starts, so it would make the decision to replace him with Hanson come off better publicly.

"There was a sense I would get hurt again and wouldn't make it back, and we wouldn't have to have the day we had on Wednesday," Glavine said. "I believe that."

Glavine said if the Braves had told him in recent weeks they were leaning toward Hanson, he would have understood, but he went forward under the impression that if he got healthy and ready to pitch, he would.

"I didn't realize I was auditioning," said Glavine, who said he was told he'd make two rehab starts in Gwinnett, one in Rome and pitch Sunday in Atlanta. "That was it. There was no 'If you do this, or your velocity is this … We'll be evaluating you every step of the way. You're trying out for the team.' None of that. It was 'If everything goes well and you're healthy, you'll pitch June 7'…. I was taking people at their word, and at the end of that day that really didn't seem to mean a whole lot."

Glavine doesn't think the reason for his departure was simply performance-based as Wren and Braves CEO Terry McGuirk have said.

"I don't believe for a minute that it was totally a performance-related issue, which I'm totally fine with, but I would have appreciated the honesty," said Glavine, who was owed $1 million when he made the active roster and an additional $1.25 million each after 30 and 60 days on the roster. "I felt it was a business issue, and they had better options with Tommy Hanson or [Kris] Medlen."

Glavine believes the trade for center fielder Nate McLouth, announced an hour after Glavine's release, came into play, too.

"They had an opportunity to get Nate McLouth and by not paying me, I think it freed up some money for them to do that," Glavine said."