"The Braves did some last-minute dealing Saturday, trading for Kansas City outfielder Rick Ankiel and reliever Kyle Farnsworth in a five-player exchange.

They sent outfielder Gregor Blanco, reliever Jesse Chavez and left-handed pitching prospect Tim Collins to the Royals in the deal, which was finalized just before Saturday's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline.

"It allows us to fill our two most important needs, and it also didn't force us to give up any of our top young pitching prospects," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "We really like Collins, so it's not to say he's not a good looking young prospect.

"But I think everybody knows who our top starting pitchers are in the minor leagues, and we were able to hold onto those guys."

The Braves got Collins from Toronto as part of the July14 Yunel Escoba-for-Alex Gonzalez shortstop swap.

In another minor trade Saturday, the Braves got Detroit Tigers minor league outfielder Wilkin Ramirez for a player to be named later or cash.

Ranked near the bottom of the National League in offense from outfielders, the Braves sought to add some punch to that unit. They also wanted to add depth to a strong bullpen that's shown recent signs of fatigue.

They think Ankiel, 31, can be the run-producer they envisioned Nate McLouth being when they got him from Pittsburgh in a midseason 2009 trade. McLouth was demoted last week to Triple-A after struggling both before and after a June concussion.

Ankiel is a former left-handed pitcher who converted to the outfield four years ago and hit 25 homers for St. Louis in 2008. A quadriceps injury has limited him to 27 games this season, but he's hit .367 with a homer in 30 at-bats since coming off the disabled list July 22."