"John Smoltz thought long and hard about accepting the Red Sox offer to return to the minor leagues, but ultimately decided it was too much of a risk.

Thanking the organization for taking a chance on him, Smoltz yesterday explained the process that led him to decline a minor league assignment in favor of hooking on immediately, probably with a National League team.

"I will sign with somebody," Smoltz said by phone. "I've got a few things going. I can't do anything until after 1 p.m. (today), but I have decided that I'm going to continue."

Smoltz' release waivers expire today. He is expected to sign with either the Florida Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals or Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I've been working hard since I've been gone," Smoltz said. "I've found some mechanical flaws. I know I can still pitch."

While there has been speculation that Smoltz declined the minor league assignment from the Sox because he didn't want to accept an altered contract that would have cost him roster bonuses, he made next year sound as important as this one.

"What people don't understand is I want to pitch in 2010," he said. "And there were a lot of things (with the Red Sox) that could have gone in other directions that I could not (abide by). It ended up it wasn't so simple. It's too long to explain how the process works, but it started to become very complicated how this was going to work out. But I have nothing but admiration for everyone associated with the Red Sox and the fans who follow them.""