Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez spent the final 45 minutes before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline chatting with Duke football coach David Cutcliffe, an old friend from their coaching days at the University of Tennessee, who stopped by the Braves clubhouse.
That’s about the extent of anticipation there was for a club that filled its biggest need two days earlier, when acquiring left-handed reliever Scott Downs from the Angels.
The Braves could still add a backup infielder and left-handed bat for the bench in a waiver deal in August to fill a void left from the season-ending shoulder injury to Ramiro Pena. But general manager Frank Wren said they’d like to use the next several weeks to evaluate their needs.
“I think there’s a good chance (of another trade), once we have a better sense, get guys healthy, get the team functioning the way we see it functioning going forward - that’s short of other injuries,” Wren said. “I think we’ll probably have some other activity, but all in all we’re pretty happy. The club is playing as well as we’ve played all year long. There’re a lot of positives.”
The Braves will also continue to monitor how things play out in the starting rotation and how Brandon Beachy progresses in his return from Tommy John surgery. When Tim Hudson went down with a season-ending ankle fracture last week, the Braves considered trading for a starter as well but found the market limited in front-line starting pitchers and the asking price in prospects too high for Jake Peavy.
Those same issues stayed in play up through Wednesday’s deadline.
“The asking prices were very high,” Wren said. “In most cases, you see that every year early in the process, but we didn’t see the prices really go down. We were looking for blue-light specials in the last hour and it didn’t happen.”
The trade deadline was relatively quiet not just for the Braves, but all across the major leagues. That’s something Wren said he heard from other general managers throughout the past few days.
“I think it’s a combination of the number of teams that still feel like they’re viable for a second wild card and the number of young players that have been tied up to long-term contracts,” Wren said. “It just starts shrinking the availability of players at the deadline. I think we will see more waiver period deals.”
For the Braves to have a clearer picture of that they’ll be looking for, they need to see how Reed Johnson progresses. He’s their most experienced pinch hitter and he went on the disabled list Tuesday with Achilles tendinitis. The Braves don’t yet have a timetable for his return.
“That’s going to be one that we just have to get a feel for as he’s getting better,” Wren said. “We feel comfortable that he’ll be back, we just don’t know exactly when.”
The Braves also have Jordan Schafer (ankle) and B.J. Upton (adductor/groin) nearing returns from injury. Upton went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first minor league rehabilitation game Wednesday night in Triple-A Gwinnett. Schafer could begin his minor league rehabilitation assignment with Gwinnett as early as Friday or Saturday.
“As we get a little closer to the waiver deadline and the postseason deadline we’ll have a better sense of our club,” Wren said. “It’s important to know what we have and what we need, and we’re not quite there yet.”
