From the latest Jayson Stark rumblings we get this nugget:

The Braves, according to sources, offered a package that included prospects they weren't willing to dangle in front of the Mets on Carlos Beltran -- but got shut down. One source who spoke with the Braves' brass Friday came away convinced they were out of it and moving on.

The Phillies seem to be the lone team in the hunt for Hunter. I, for one, am rather glad the Braves are moving away from the Astros right fielder and his exorbitant price tag. David O'Brien at the AJC has repeated tweeted that he believes the team team is more interested in Carlos Quentin, though they are still not willing to give up any of the "Four Horsemen Of The Pitchpocalyse."

Another factor in the Braves moving away from Pence may have been the dollars he would command in the coming years -- somewhere north or $20 million before he's a free agent after the 2013 season. Quentin would be a shorter term acquisition, though still under team control for another year, and for possibly less money based on his lower current salary. Pence was a "super-two" player and has an extra year of arbitration inflating his salary.

Something else I read into the quoted Stark comment above is that the Braves are willing to give up several lesser prospects in their system as opposed to one of the "Four Horsemen." Sounds like a good plan to hang on to your top talent, and deal from the mid-level talent in your system, of which the Braves have plenty of.