"This is not a John Smoltz situation. How do we know that? Because Tom Glavine and Frank Wren had breakfast together Wednesday morning in Alpharetta.

"I had oatmeal," Glavine said.

Wren?

"He had oatmeal, too. Hey, gotta get ready for spring training."

Who paid?

"He did. Business expense."

This isn't six years ago, when the Braves and Glavine debated about who lied, or who didn't return whose messages, or who was the bigger, hard-headed, money-grubbing weasel. This isn't three weeks ago, when Wren and Smoltz were closer to going at each other with blow torches than bonding over a high-fiber breakfast.

Glavine wants to pitch. Medical reports indicate he can pitch. The Braves appear open to him pitching here. Given the exodus of icons, the scorched earth left by Smoltz and the tumult this organization has seen in recent seasons, can that really be the sound of violins we hear in the background?

"Selfishly, I hope what happened to John helps me," Glavine said laughing, when asked about a possible ripple effect. "But we've seen both sides of that. When you have three guys like myself and John and Greg [Maddux] pitch here, it would be nice to have at least one of us retire in a Braves uniform."

No, this is not a Smoltz situation. In many ways, the question over Glavine's ability to make a comeback is a greater surprise. Smoltz's career evolved into a series of medical miracles. Comebacks shared space in Sports Illustrated and the New England Journal of Medicine. Wren spun things after the fact, claiming he never wanting Smoltz to leave for Boston. But it was clear the general manager never really believed Smoltz could overcome another major surgery. The lack of negotiations screamed it.

Glavine is more of a curiosity. He is coming off elbow and shoulder surgeries and he'll be 43 in March. But resiliency has been a trademark of his career. He had thrown over 200 innings in almost every season of his career until last year. He had never been on the disabled list even once in 22 seasons until last April.

"I came back here to provide stability," he said. "When I couldn't, it was surprising and disappointing. All athletes struggle when the right time is to walk away. It would be ideal if you're coming off a great season and you know you have nothing left in the tank. But that's not usually the case. I want to come back because I still enjoy pitching. But there's also a sense of unfinished business. If I come back and I have another injury-plagued year, then, yeah, I know it's time to walk away. But I view last year as an aberration. I hate to walk away based on one year of not being healthy.""