Braves steal a reliever from the Mets and finally cut ties with a struggling arm

This is the point of the offseason where teams, including the Atlanta Braves, have to do a certain amount of roster housekeeping. With the nontender deadline coming up as well as the deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft, fans can expect a series of roster moves and trades as teams across the league get their rosters sorted out ahead of the free agency bonanza.

For the Braves, they had a full 40 man roster coming into the day and have to make some choices as to whether or not any of their Rule 5 draft eligible prospects are worthy of protection. However, today can also greatly benefit teams that are opportunistic and Atlanta appears to have done that as they claimed Penn Murfee off of waivers from the Mets and designated Yonny Chirinos for assignment to make room for him.

The Yonny Chirinos Era in Atlanta was not....particularly fun for everyone involved. After the Braves claimed Chirinos off waivers from the Rays in July, Chirinos made five starts for the Braves in 2023 with a 9.27 ERA in 22.1 innings of work. The Braves postured early this offseason that they could be interested in bringing him back as a cheap lottery ticket, but fans can breathe a sigh of relief for the moment.

As for Murfee, he was really good in 2023 in the big leagues. He spent most of the season with the Mariners and he put up a 1.29 ERA in 16 appearances for Seattle before elbow trouble landed him on the shelf. The Mets claimed Murfee off waivers at the end of October and tried to sneak him through the waiver wire today, but the Braves snatched him up.

Murfee's value is going to come down to the health of his elbow given that he had to have surgery to repair the damage. However, Chirinos shouldn't be in the rotation of a good big league team and Murfee seems like a guy that Atlanta can stash away and see what he looks like when he is done with his rehab. Addition through subtraction overall.

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