After learning of Hudson’s injury and placing Chipper Jones on the 15-day disabled list Monday, Wren made it clear he was looking toward 2009. The Braves will likely miss the playoffs for the third straight year after once being a mainstay of the postseason, winning 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005.

Kotchman is hitting .287 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs for the Angels, and he homered in Monday night’s win at Fenway Park. The Angels liked the 25-year-old’s future — but with Teixeira available, they didn’t want to look past October.

The Braves also got Marek, a 24-year-old righty. He was 2-6 with three saves and a 3.66 ERA as a reliever at Double-A Arkansas.

“I’m just excited to go to Atlanta and play for (manager) Bobby Cox,” Kotchman said before leaving Fenway Park for the airport. “At the same time, my teammates here, to leave them, I’ll be pulling for them.”

Kotchman had been in the Angels lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox, batting second and playing first base. He was replaced at first by Robb Quinlan, who batted eighth.

Teixeira will soon be occupying first base for the Angels. He had already booked a Wednesday flight to Boston and figures to be at the ballpark in plenty of time to join the lineup. His family, meanwhile, plans to stay at Boras’ guest house in California for the time being.

“It was important to get him in the fold today and get him in the lineup tomorrow,” Reagins said. “That’s how we pursued it.”

Teixeira said there was time when he would’ve signed a deal with Atlanta and bypassed the possibility of free agency, but the negotiations were nothing more than “one phone call.”

“This whole year I was open for it. But that’s business. It just didn’t work out,” he said. “When my career is over I’m going to be able to tell my kids and my grandkids that I played for Bobby Cox and I played with Chipper Jones and I played with John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. Those are things I’m going to be proud of.”

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