Lowe is expected to join Braves

Derek Lowe’s four-year stint with the Dodgers is about to officially come to an end. The right-hander has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Braves on a four-year, $60-million contract, according to a baseball source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical.

Lowe, 35, anchored an inexperienced rotation last season and was the club’s No. 1 pitcher in the playoffs. He was 14-11 with a 3.24 earned-run average.

Lowe was 54-48 with a 3.59 ERA in his four seasons with the Dodgers. He completed a four-year, $36-million deal this year.

The Dodgers never made an effort to re-sign him, even though they lost Brad Penny and Greg Maddux this winter.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said many times this off-season that Lowe made it clear to the club that he intended to sign elsewhere.

Lowe’s agent, Scott Boras, said the pitcher never told him anything of that nature.

“Derek told me he enjoyed pitching for [Dodgers Manager] Joe [Torre] and would have considered L.A.,” Boras said. “But early in the process when I was collecting information from teams, I spoke to the Dodgers and they indicated they were going in a different direction.”

Torre and his coaching staff wanted Lowe back but that sentiment wasn’t shared by owners Frank and Jamie McCourt, with whom the pitcher had personality conflicts. Lowe’s relationship with a Fox Sports West anchor who covered the team -- which resulted in the dissolution of their respective marriages -- did not help in the eyes of ownership.

Lowe was bothered by his view that the club favored Penny over him. He was particularly upset when he had to pitch on three days’ rest in a day game in Anaheim on May 18 because Penny said he couldn’t take his turn in the rotation. Lowe gave up seven runs in five innings.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to take one for the . . . team and go out there,” Lowe said after the 10-2 loss at Angel Stadium. “Who else was going to pitch? . . . So I volunteered to go out there. I’m happy I did it. You play the game to play, not to sit and watch. And obviously, it didn’t work out too well.”

Lowe was used an as emergency starter again in June, this time to replace Hiroki Kuroda. The Dodgers’ usage of Lowe was the subject of a pregame meeting in June that involved the pitcher, Boras, Colletti and Torre.

The Dodgers are looking at mid-level free agents Jon Garland, Randy Wolf and Braden Looper as possibilities to replace Lowe in the rotation.

Even though Lowe is a Type A free agent, the Dodgers will not get the Braves’ first-round pick in the 2009 amateur draft as compensation. Because the first 15 selections are protected and the Braves pick seventh, the Dodgers figure to receive the Braves’ second-round choice and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com