Cincinnati --- Andruw Jones wants to remain with the Braves. That's why he's not happy to be part of trade talks having not been told anything by the team.
"I think it's rude," Jones said Friday after being put on waivers and claimed by several teams. "At least call and say something.
"Pick up the phone and tell me if it's nothing, just a rumor or we're doing something. Then it wouldn't be such a shock to me if it happens."
Braves general manager John Schuerholz said in response to Jones' remarks, "I'm sorry if Andruw thinks that it's rude, but waivers are confidential."
Of the teams that claimed Jones, the one with the worst record gets a 48-hour window to work out a trade with the Braves. That team could not be confirmed Friday.
"I've never commented on waivers in my 25 years as a general manager, and I never will. That's not the way it is supposed to work," Schuerholz said.
"Andruw and I have always had a good relationship. He should know that we would talk if a trade was imminent. But I can't talk about waivers, and I won't."
Most players are put on waivers in August each year. But the center fielder is generating news because of his contract status and the fact that the Braves had trade discussions with the
Boston Red Sox just before the deadline.
Jones, who came up to the Braves in 1996 at age 19, can block a trade after he attains 10 years in the majors on Aug. 15.
"I want to stay with the Braves," Jones said. "I don't want to go anywhere. Especially with two months left in the season. But right now, I don't have a say-so in whether I stay or go."
Jones said he would veto a deal once he has the right. He is owed $13.5 million next season in the final year of his contract.
With Scott Boras as his agent, the Braves know that the slugging Gold Glove winner won't be cheap to re-sign.
"I know they wouldn't do this with Chipper or Smoltzie," Jones said of long-time teammates Chipper Jones and John Smoltz. "But they aren't in the situation that I'm in. They can say no to a trade."
Braves manager Bobby Cox doesn't like all the rumors. "Waivers were designed to be confidential," he said. "No one is supposed to know."
"As far as I'm concerned, this is a nonstory."