By Britt Ghiroli

Adam Jones briefly held court this morning about the news yesterday that Dexter Fowler has signed with the Cubs. Jones had spoken with Fowler on Wednesday and said the outfielder was excited about joining Baltimore, but said Friday morning there’s no hard feelings.

“I know him personally so it’s good,” Jones said. “We are moving on, we’ve moved on, he’s moved on. We got a big day ahead of us today. It’s a game of adjustments, you move on…I love the guys that we have here in-house, I think we have a terrific team. So, cool. I think that by him not agreeing to it it opened up money at the All-Star break or at the deadline. And it gives other guys in here a chance. So it’s not that you’re outsourcing. It gives guys that are already in this clubhouse an opportunity.”

Jones has never dealt with free agency and said he didn’t know how unusual it was for a player to take less money and years elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, he’s happy where he’s at and that’s the most important thing,” Jones aid of Fowler. “It’s his career. It’s not mine, my career is here. At the end of the day, I just want to face them [laughs]. No.”

Jones did say he was surprised to get the news on Thursday afternoon that Fowler was in Arizona with the Cubs.

“I came in here and found out and was like ‘OK’. There’s not much I can do about it,” Jones said. “I can cry about it, but it’s not going to do much for us. At the end of the day, he’s happy where he’s at, his family is happy in Chicago. So good for him.”

Jones said he didn’t necessarily feel deceived.

“It’s not my fault. It’s not up to me,” Jones said. “He’s happy where he’s at. That’s all that matters. He’s happy. And as a friend of his, if he’s happy, I’m happy.”

Jones spoke to Fowler last night and said the conversation went great and Fowler didn’t need to apologize.

“We’re grown men, man,” Jones said. “Grown men shouldn’t say sorry.”

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In case you missed it, here’s my story from last night about the situation with Fowler’s agent.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who told the local media that he found out on Thursday that Dexter Fowler was no longer an option, said the O’s made a sincere effort to sign Fowler.

“I’m not sure what that statement is about,” Duquette said, referring to what Fowler’s agenct, Casey Close released through Excel Sports on Twitter on Thursday night. “Because his job is to represent his player. If a player chooses to take less money to go to another team that’s their choice.”

Duquette reiterated that the O’s did not have an official agreement in place with Fowler, as that would obviously require a physical and signature. But the expectation from the moment the news broke Tuesday, first by MASNSports.com and ESPN, and later by other outlets, was that Fowler — who told reporters on Thursday he had a three year offer on the table — was headed to Florida. O’s All-Star Adam Jones said Wednesday he had spoke to Fowler and the outfielder was “excited” and “should be on his way” to Florida.

Read the full story here.