Whether the Braves made an offer is unknown. Going into Thursday, the only reported offer to Lowe was a three-year, $36 million proposal by the New York Mets (Boras said that offer was never made and indicated it would've been far too low).

The National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies are pursuing the sinkerballer, along with the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers and possibly others.

Given the Smoltz situation and the other failed attempts to acquire a front-line starter, the Braves might be compelled to offer Lowe a four-year deal and higher salary than the Mets proposed.

Cox has known Lowe since managing an all-star team that toured Japan eight years ago. Lowe was on it, and Cox left an impression with him. Boras said Sunday that the pitcher had great respect for the manager and was sincere in his interest in the Braves.

On Wednesday Wren arranged the meeting with Lowe, a Florida resident, and Cox. Hours later, Wren was told Smoltz would sign with the Red Sox. Chipper Jones called Lowe on Wednesday to make a recruiting pitch, shortly before Smoltz called Jones to tell him he was leaving the Braves.

"He [Lowe] is definitely interested, but this carnage that just happened is not going to be very appealing," Jones said, "because [Lowe] and I were talking ... you throw a 200-inning guy like [Javier] Vazquez ... [Lowe], Jair [Jurrjens], that's a very, very good starting rotation. Guys who can eat innings and not overexpose, overuse the bullpen. There are possibilities there.

"Well, you just lost the major cog of that [Smoltz], and you don't have one of the other major cogs [Lowe]. The prospects of that possibility are severely diminished when you take Smoltzie out of the equation."

The Braves are also finalists for Japanese veteran Kenshin Kawakami, a right-hander expected to make his decision soon. He's 33 and a former winner of the Japanese version of the Cy Young Award.

Lowe and Smoltz are two of only three pitchers in major league history --- Dennis Eckersley is the other --- who've had both a 20-win and 40-save season.

Lowe has been among Baseball's most reliable starting pitchers since moving to Boston's rotation in 2002, averaging 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons.

In 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lowe was 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 211 innings, including 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in his past 10 starts.

He has plenty of postseason experience, going 5-5 with a save and a 3.33 ERA in 21 games (10 starts), including 4-1 in his past eight.

For Boston's 2004 World Series champions, he was 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in four postseason games, with decisions in three series-clinching wins.

The Braves have fallen short in several other offseason pursuits of pitchers --- notably Jake Peavy, A.J. Burnett and Mike Hampton --- as well as their attempt to sign shortstop Rafael Furcal.

Now, there's the blow of franchise icon Smoltz's decision. Getting Lowe seems even more crucial for the Braves, who added Vazquez but have little depth in their rotation beyond him and Jurrjens.