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Much has been made of Atlanta's need for a bat -- with Carlos Beltran one prominent name often...

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Much has been made of Atlanta's need for a bat -- with Carlos Beltran one prominent name often thrown into that conversation -- but as ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tells Rumor Central, for Atlanta to be able to acquire a bat, they may need to move some salary. One obvious name: Derek Lowe. Lowe's deal pays him $15 million this year, and the same next, so whoever grabs him will be taking on some cost. But Lowe is also famously dependable, having thrown no less than 193.2 innings in a season since 2001, and he's also known as a solid postseason pitcher. The Braves, as we know, have a lot of in-house fixes in place. Mike Minor could come up, as could future ace option Julio Teheran, who has destroyed minor league hitting. The Braves aren't actively shopping Lowe, Crasnick notes, but they are listening.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/features/rumors This tells me a couple of things. 1. The Braves are actively looking for a bat, not just passively looking to make a minor upgrade, as most of us assumed. 2. Teams are actually calling about Derek Lowe. I think any contender would love to have him, but it's just a matter of how much are they willing to pay him? I would think that the more salary we hold on to, the better hitter we could land.