Braves lose reliever to free agency

Spencer Schwellenbach Braves hat Ray Kerr Owen Murphy

The Braves announced a couple of roster moves yesterday. The most notable being Sam Hilliard, who was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. They also outrighted Ben Heller and Andrew Velazquez to Gwinnett.

I was happy that the Braves were able to hang onto Ben Heller, who has some good stuff and could be a potential MLB reliever for years to come. Unfortunately, he elected free agency rather than sticking with the organization.

I don’t blame Heller for wanting to take the offseason and evaluate his options. He’s certainly a candidate to end up on a major-league roster, and with the recent re-signings of Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez, that was only going to be more difficult for him in Atlanta.

However, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that he winds up back with the Braves one way or another. There’s familiarity there, and as we saw this season, you can never have enough pitching.

Photographer: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire

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