updated 3:54 p.m. ET Nov. 15, 2008

The Braves officially removed themselves from the Jake Peavy sweepstakes Friday night. In the end, the Padres' asking price for the righthanded ace was too high.

Braves general manager Frank Wren told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "We reached the point where we made the decision that we just didn't feel like there was a deal that we could feel comfortable with. Jake Peavy is obviously a quality top-of-the-rotation pitcher. But our focus is still to build our organization internally with our young players, and we had to measure at what point we'd lose the ability to have a sustainable winning franchise going forward if we gave up too much talent."

This ends several weeks of negotiations between the two teams, and the main stumbling block was the Braves' refusal to part with prized minor league pitcher Tommy Hanson.

Atlanta now is expected to turn its attention to the free agent market to address its rotation needs. With Tom Glavine (elbow/shoulder) and John Smoltz (shoulder) both coming off injuries — and both being free agents — as well as Mike Hampton exploring the open market, the Braves have several voids to fill.

The Cubs also were reported to be serious suitors for Peavy, though Cubs manager Lou Piniella told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this week that he thought the idea of Chicago trading for Peavy was "only talk." Peavy, who has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Padres, initially listed the Braves, Cubs, Cardinals, Astros and Dodgers as the five teams to which he'd accept a trade.

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