Braves: Slew of minor-league players elect free agency

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Vaughn Grissom call up

With the MLB offseason officially underway, a slew of Braves minor-league players have elected free agency.

Most of these names on this list never had a chance of impacting the Braves next year, but there are a few notable players that could have potentially helped the team in the future.

Danny Young bounced between AAA and the major-league club for most of the season. In his eight appearances for the Braves, he had a 1.08 ERA and 10.8 K/9. His numbers were much less encouraging in Gwinnett, however, pitching to the tune of a 6.32 ERA in 16 appearances. Still, he’s decent organizational bullpen depth that the Braves will have to replace.

Drew Lugbauer is an intriguing minor-league player with tons of pop. If he’s going to make it to the majors, it will probably be as a DH, but he mashed 22 homers in 69 games for AA Mississippi before being promoted to Gwinnett. With Atlanta’s lineup as loaded as it is, it was always going to be difficult for him to find a role with the Braves, but don’t be surprised if you hear this name sometime in the future.

Alex Anthopoulos took a flier on former first-round pick Justus Sheffield. Unfortunately, his struggles continued in Gwinnett, recording a 6.63 ERA over 54.1 innings.

Of course, Charlie Culberson is a fan favorite that has had several memorable moments with the club. He was actually on the major-league club for a large portion of the season, and in his only at-bat, he singled. Perhaps he returns for organizational depth, but at 35-years-old, it might be time to hang up the cleats.

Jesus Aguilar was also some quality organizational depth that the Braves acquired early last season. He never made it to Atlanta, but he did have some decent numbers in Gwinnett, posting a .753 OPS.

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Photo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire

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