If the Braves do need to disable Wise — or finally send Hessman down again — they don’t have a whole lot of options on the 40-man. However, by my count they actually have only 39 men on the active 40-man, plus Byrd, who is on the 60-day DL. So there’s a little leeway.
Anyway, neither Charles Thomas (who has been tearing up the International League) nor James Jurries is actually on the 40-man roster right now. Meanwhile, a lot of the guys on there are a long way from Atlanta. Onil Joseph’s still in Myrtle Beach. Scott Thorman was just promoted to Greenville but still hasn’t figured out AA. Tony Pena’s in Greenville, where he’s putting up Rey Sanchez/Jesse Garcia numbers (.281/.305/.382), and nobody knows why he’s on the 40-man.
If I have a point, I guess that the Braves are going to have to dump some of the deadweight to make room for players who can actually help the team. (Including theoretically Byrd, but I still doubt he’ll ever pitch for the Braves.) I’d start with Hessman. After what he’s shown, I don’t think there’s an organization in baseball that would claim him on waivers.
I’d give Jeffrey Hammonds a look. He was just released by the Giants, for whom he was hitting 211/336/358 in about 110 PA. However, after a dreadful April he hit 255/345/431 in May (about 56 PA), and hit 231/388/436 against lefties on the season (49 PA or so). That could be a reasonably useful half of a platoon, though his being righthanded wouldn’t replace Wise (in the eyes of those making the roster).