Top need meet, Braves continue to monitor market

With Monday’s acquisition of left-handed reliever Scott Downs, the Braves filled their primary need two days before the non-waiver trade deadline.

Braves general manager Frank Wren said the Braves will continue to talk with other clubs until the deadline comes Wednesday at 4 p.m., but even if they do nothing more, they’re satisfied they accomplished their No. 1 goal.

“It’s been a busy day today,” Wren said Monday afternoon. “We’ve had a lot of conversations. I don’t know if anything will come to fruition, but we’ve had a lot of conversations on different fronts. But it’s like anything else. You continue to knock on doors and make calls until you feel like you’ve exhausted all the possibilities to improve your team.”

The Braves are also in the market for a left-handed bat and backup infielder for their bench. But that’s a piece they could add with a waiver deal in August, when more players become available as teams fall out of contention. The Braves have added players like utility player Jeff Baker (2012), shortstop Jack Wilson (2011), and first baseman Derreck Lee (2010) in recent years.

“If we look to do some other things with the team, a lot of those will be addressed once we get to August and the waiver period,” Wren said. “We need to get some guys healthy and get our team back together so we’ve got a little better feel of how the configuration works and who’s doing what and where we need to fill in. Our club is pretty solid.”

That includes his thoughts on the Braves rotation. With last week’s season-ending injury to Tim Hudson, the Braves broadened their search to include starting pitching, but the market there was even thinner than for relief help. The Braves showed initial interest in Jake Peavy, but that cooled at the White Sox asking price, which was reportedly major-league ready pitching. The Braves prospect who best fits that bill is left-hander Alex Wood, and the Braves have no plans to part with him.