"Derek Lowe was convinced the Braves were about to trade him two winters ago, and it didn't happen. The Braves traded Javier Vazquez instead. Now that his name has resurfaced in trade speculation, he's not as fazed.

Lowe had a little fun with a Saturday report that his native Detroit Tigers had expressed interested in trading for him.

"Detroit," said Lowe, the Dearborn, MI native, he announced to teammates when he arrived in the Braves clubhouse, drawing some mock applause. "Hey, I'm going to the American League."

He makes light, but that's probably just because he's a 38-year-old veteran who's played for four different organizations, with the Mariners, Red Sox, Dodgers and Braves.

"It's this time of year," Lowe said. "There's a lot of people's names get thrown around….You have no say so. Why stress over something that you have no control over?"

Logically, though, he understands why his name is among them now."