Not quite a year after they traded for star slugger Mark Teixeira, the Braves exchanged the pending free agent for a scaled-down model of first baseman they can afford to keep a while.

The Braves traded Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor-league reliever Stephen Marek on Tuesday, two days before the non-waiver trade deadline and one day after deciding it was time to turn the page on the team's disappointing season and focus on the future.

Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Turner Field security officer Marcus Booth says goodbye to first baseman Mark Teixeira, who was traded to the Angels before Tuesday's game.

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Kotchman, 25, has hit .287 with 24 doubles, 12 home runs and 54 RBIs in 100 games for the Angels this season, after hitting .296 with 11 homers and 68 RBIs in his first full season in 2007. He's a strong defensive first baseman.

"This is obviously not the way we wanted the season to end and go forward, but we look at it as building for the future," Braves general manager Frank Wren said in announcing the trade an hour before Tuesday's game against St. Louis.

The Braves also had serious trade discussions about Teixeira this week with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Wren said Kotchman was the best player offered.

While getting a first baseman in the deal wasn't a prerequisite, he said it did give an advantage to any team offering a good one.

"I'm excited to go to Atlanta and play for Bobby Cox," Kotchman told reporters in Boston, where the Angels were playing. The left-hander was raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., the son of former minor-leaguer player and manager Tom Kotchman, a long-time scout.

"The Braves are an East Coast, Southern team," he said. "Bobby Cox has been there forever. Seeing how he handles players, pulls for them, I've got to believe it's a blessing for me to start a new chapter in Atlanta."

Teixeira hit .295 with 36 doubles, 37 homers and 134 RBI in 157 games for the Braves, with a .395 on-base percentage and only six errors.

He was acquired with reliever Ron Mahay from Texas a deadline-day trade July 31, 2007, which cost the Braves five prospects, including catcher Jarrod Saltalmacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus and left-hander Matt Harrison.

The former Georgia Tech star, who is married to a Georgia native, called the trade "very bittersweet" and said he would miss the players and felt privileged to have played for Cox, who he called "an amazing man, an amazing manager."

"I think I did everything that was asked of me," said Teixeira, standing at his locker wearing a Georgia Tech polo shirt as the Braves prepared for Tuesday's game. "I came in here and played good defense and drove in runs.

"Unfortunately, we had so many injuries this year, it just didn't work out."

He said he looked forward to joining the Angels, "the best team in baseball. ... I've got a flight in the morning, and I'll be ready to play tomorrow."

The Braves, after finishing third last season in the National League East, are in fourth this season, 7 1/2 games out of first before Tuesday. They were 76-81 in the games Teixeira played for them.

Some have predicted Teixeira, a switch-hitter and two-time American League Gold Glove winner, might command a long-term contract worth $20 million annually.

Teixeira plans to stay initially in Boras' guest house in Southern California.

"I thought I'd be here the rest of my career," he said of Atlanta. "I really wanted to stay here, but business is business, and it's time for me to move on."

Teixeira said he had been "open" to hearing offers from the Braves all season, but got none. Wren said the Braves didn't believe they could re-sign him after making an "aggressive" offer during spring training and having it rejected.

The GM said the offer would have made Teixeira one of the game's highest paid players. He is making $12.5 million this season in his last year of arbitration.

Kotchman makes $1.45 million this season and has three years of arbitration eligibility left before he can become a free agent after the 2011 season.

Marek, 24, is a hard-throwing right-hander who was 2-6 with a 3.66 ERA, three saves, and 57 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings at Class AA Arkansas. The Houston native was 21-18 with a 3.51 ERA while working as a starter in three minor league seasons before 2008.