Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Braves general manager Frank Wren thought he'd found the key piece for the Braves bench back in December. He traded for super utility player Omar Infante at the baseball winter meetings.

But here it is, the last week of spring training, and the Braves have been back out on the market scrambling for someone to bolster their bench.

VINO WONG / AJC (ENLARGE)

A broken hand has kept Omar Infante on the shelf during spring training, and he could miss the first month of the season.

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Infante broke his hand in winter ball and is likely to miss the first month of the season. Between his absence and the aborted comeback attempt by Javy Lopez as backup catcher, the Braves bench is looking a little "AAAA" heavy.

That's the lingo for players who are great at the Class AAA level but are unsuccessful — or at least unproven — in the majors. The Braves have players like Brent Lillibridge and Martin Prado, who might not yet be ready for an everyday role in the majors, or Brayan Pena and Scott Thorman, who are out of options but not overwhelming candidates for the big league bench.

The trick is finding players who are not good enough to make every-day money but are good enough to be consistent contributors in the toughest of conditions — hitting off the bench.

When Wren set out to trade for Infante in December, he was looking for both defensive versatility and a bat, the ideal combination for good bench players.

"You can find guys that run, you can find guys that field, but what you need are the multi-dimensional guys that can also get a hit — and get a big hit," Wren said. "So that's where we still want to make sure we've got that covered."

Braves pinch hitters hit only .213 last year, which ranked 13th in the National League, with a league-worst 20 RBIs. Their three homers tied them for worst in the NL.

Chris Woodward managed only a .199 batting average with one home run and eight RBIs in 92 games last year. Perhaps the memory of Woodward, a backup infielder, is what made Infante so appealing. He is comfortable playing not only second base, shortstop and third base but also center field.

And he hit 16 home runs in 2004 for Detroit, when Fernando Vina got hurt and Infante moved into an everyday job at second base.

"I think in the National League having guys that can play different positions is a big benefit to your manager because it gives you the ability to pinch run, to double switch, to do a lot of things with guys who are versatile," Wren said. "That's why Infante was so valuable to us. It gets kind of wasted in the American League because you don't do many of those things. But Infante — everybody we talked to, and our scouts — said he's the ideal National League super utility player. He can play so many positions, and he swings the bat."

Infante, a career .253 hitter, played second base for Detroit for much of two seasons until the Tigers acquired Placido Polanco. Infante's playing time dropped off. After playing in 142 and 121 games respectively in 2004 and 2005, he played only 134 games in the next two years combined.

That's the primary reason he jumped at the chance to play in the National League. He eventually landed in Atlanta after being traded twice in two weeks to Chicago and then to the Braves with Will Ohman for pitcher Jose Ascanio.

"I like it because I think I get more of an opportunity to play every day," Infante said. "In the American League, you don't have a lot of chances. It's the same lineup every day."

Former Tigers pitcher Jair Jurrjens got to know Infante's game by watching him on TV when Jurrjens was in the minors and then playing with him last September.

"He has some pop for a small guy," Jurrjens said. "He's a gap hitter. If you make a mistake on him, he's going to take you deep, for sure. He's got some good speed, too. He can bunt on you, do small things to help the team, especially for a National League team. I think the American League is more for power hitters and stuff like that. I think for a National League team he's really going to blossom."