If you were confused about how player acquisitions would work in August this season, so were we. The Atlanta Braves have still managed to add 2 players from outside the organization, lose 2 to other teams, and seem bent on adding a third soon.
The key here is that word ‘trade’. The change was that no trades could be executed after July 31st. Other than that, it appears that most of the prior rules have remained intact.
So while players could not be placed on a ‘revocable’ waivers list, they could still be designated for assignment or waived for release purposes (non-revocable waivers).