A Brave New World for Bo? : Baseball: Atlanta seems most likely to take a chance on Jackson, but don’t rule out Yankees. Claire ‘still evaluating.’

As Bo Jackson said goodby to former teammates on the Kansas City Royals Tuesday, it was being speculated that the Atlanta Braves are certain to say hello.

Who else? The marquee-minded New York Yankees are thought to be a possibility, as well as the free-spending Dodgers, though it is not clear where they would play him or why they would consider him better than any of their current outfield starters: Kal Daniels, Brett Butler and Darryl Strawberry.

Nevertheless, an Associated Press story Tuesday said the Dodgers would be one of the first clubs to talk with Jackson when he clears waivers Friday and quoted Vice President Fred Claire as saying he would have to be interested in any player of Jackson’s caliber.

Claire, however, seemed to back off that when reached in Vero Beach, Fla.

“We have not made any decision yet,” he said. “We are still evaluating it, but there are a lot of ramifications here.

“You’re talking about a player that certainly has a lot of talent, but his physical status is in question, and we’re talking about a very large contract.”

Despite the ramifications, the injured outfielder apparently makes dollars and sense to Atlanta.

Stan Kasten, president of the Braves, said Tuesday he has already given General Manager John Schuerholz permission to explore the financial and medical aspects involved in signing Jackson, and he didn’t expect money to be an obstacle.

“That would be too good to be true,” another club executive said of the possibility of Jackson’s acquisition by the Braves.

Atlanta faces a problem, however, in that it might not get an opportunity to express its interest directly.

This is the situation:

Jackson is on waivers until mid-afternoon Friday. Clubs can claim him in reverse order of the 1990 standings, with the Yankees having first crack. The Braves would be first among National League teams, but 15th overall.

A club claiming Jackson would have to assume his $2.375-million salary minus about $395,000, the Kansas City commitment. Once Jackson passes waivers, he becomes a free agent and can sign with any club for any amount.

Before that, he can also become a free agent by rejecting a club’s waiver claim, as Deion Sanders did last summer when he was released by the Yankees, rejected a claim by the Chicago White Sox and eventually signed with Atlanta as a free agent.

On the surface, any club claiming Jackson would appear foolish in that it would be obligated to pay about $2 million in salary with no assurance Jackson would be able to earn it. Besides, once through waivers, he could be signed to a conditional contact based on his ability to play.

However, an interested club might think that $2 million is a lesser risk than the possibility of losing Jackson as a free agent, and therefore might elect to protect that interest by claiming him on waivers, even though it’s not the most prudent of the financial options.

Whether the Braves, Yankees or any other club will choose to go the waiver route isn’t clear, but several sources contacted Tuesday seemed to think that Atlanta is Jackson’s logical destination, based on the following:

--Proximity to his Alabama home.

--The presence of Schuerholz, who attempted to trade for Jackson during the winter and was the Kansas City general manager who first signed the two-sport star.

--The need of the Braves, last in the major leagues in attendance last season, to fill seats as well as advertising time on owner Ted Turner’s telecasts.

--The willingness of the Braves to hire two-sport athletes, as evidenced by the signing of Sanders, the baseball outfielder and Atlanta Falcon cornerback.

Now in spring training with the Braves, Sanders was asked Tuesday if Jackson’s career-threatening hip injury, suffered while playing for the Raiders, might influence Sanders to play only baseball.

“I don’t even think of it,” he told Atlanta reporters. “The only difference it makes is that I’m making sure all my business is handled properly in case it does happen.”

Meanwhile, there were these other developments:

--Agent Richard Woods said Jackson was looking forward to free agency and hinted that it might be financially foolish to have him sign with any club until he is again physically sound, when his bargaining power would be stronger than it is now.

--During a news conference at the Royals’ training camp in Florida, an emotional Jackson said he was saddened to have to leave friends and teammates but that his mental state is good.

“I was working for the Royals, but the Royals weren’t working for Bo,” he said. “They felt they did what they had to do as a business, but I’m going to make it back if it’s in the cards, and when I do, watch out. It’s Katie bar the door. There’s a lot of clubs I’d like to go to, including the Dodgers, and I’d love to go back to Royals Stadium and knock down that new scoreboard in left field.”