"Spring training opens next week and John Smoltz doesn't have a job. This might unnerve most 42-year-old pitchers who don't want to hear from baseball people or medical people or certainly Joe-in-section-312-with-nacho-sauce-on-his-chin-people that his career might be over. But the waiting doesn't bother Smoltz.

"I've been doing what I've always done this time of year - throwing every other day and getting ready for the season," he said by phone while driving to his workout. "I'm at a good place with everything that has gone on in my life. I'm just going to let this play out."

He is not retiring. Nor has he decided for certain that he will hold off signing with a team until mid-season - as Pedro Martinez did with Philadelphia last July - but acknowledges that is a possibility.

"A lot of people are speculating right now," he said. "But I can assure you it hasn't come from anything that I've said."

Here's one possibility that nobody should close a door to: Smoltz returning to the Braves.

Start with this: We saw two different aging pitchers last year. The first Smoltz came off shoulder surgery for a torn labrum, signed with Boston and then crashed in spectacular fashion. He was 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in eight games. He allowed eight runs in 3.1 innings in his last start against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox said, "Enough," and released him.

The second Smoltz came from some alternate universe. He signed with St. Louis. In his first start, he struck out seven straight and threw five shutout innings against San Diego."