By Mark Bowman

After tossing his latest gem against the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, Tim Hudson had planned to relax and enjoy Monday’s offday in Cincinnati. Instead, he spent most of the day disturbed by a USA Today article that portrayed him as still being bitter about the Braves not making a stronger push to re-sign him this past winter.

“It just kind of made me feel sick most of yesterday, because that is not the way I felt after the whole process played out” Hudson said after finishing breakfast on Tuesday morning.

Hudson grew up a Braves fan and became an integral part of the organization while being part of club’s starting rotation from 2005–13. When he and his Giants teammates came to Atlanta for an early May series, he had a lot of complimentary things to say about the Braves organization and said he is looking forward to the post-retirement days when he will bring his kids to Turner Field for games.

With this in mind, it is easier to understand why Hudson was bothered by the article within which he was quoted as saying, “It was made pretty clear to me the Braves didn’t want me back…After what I had done for them, it was kind of a slap in the face.’’

While Hudson said this to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, he was bothered by the fact these quotes alone make it seem like he is bitter toward the Braves.

There is no doubt Hudson felt the Braves slapped him in the face when they provided an initial one-year, $2 million offer shortly after the World Series concluded. But over the next couple of weeks before he signed a two-year, $23 million contract with the Giants, the veteran pitcher repeatedly made a point to credit Braves general manager Frank Wren for the increased interest he was showing via enhanced financial offers.

“After the initial offer and all of that, it ended up not being a slap in the face,” Hudson said. “But initially, it looked like we were not going to go anywhere.”

Quite honestly, it felt like any hope of Hudson returning to the Braves died on Nov. 4, when he indicated he would not even counter the initial offer. But over the next two weeks, Wren spoke with Hudson multiple times and even met at Hudson’s house just a couple days before the Giants deal was complete.

“The Braves made a push, but we were just too far down the line with the Giants,” Hudson said.

With the 38-year-old Hudson coming off a gruesome right ankle fracture that prevented him from even throwing off a mound until the latter part of November, the Braves were understandably not comfortable with making the kind of commitment the Giants made. In fact, Hudson entered the free-agent market without any inclination that he would end up getting the kind of offer that he did.

“I still keep up with the Braves like I have my whole life,” Hudson said. “I still have a lot of great friends in that clubhouse. I can’t say I don’t still pull for them, because I do, except for when we’re playing them.”