Atlanta Braves designate Ramiro Pena, Jonny Venters for assignment

In what continuously appears to be an Atlanta Braves rebuild for the 2017 season, today the Atlanta Braves designated Ramiro Pena and Jonny Venters for assignment, leaving both off of their 40-man protected roster that’s due tomorrow.

Pena seems to be the biggest surprise of the two who got DFA’ed, as he was a popular candidate to possibly take the second base spot for next season (or, at the very worst, work in a platoon situation). In two years with the Braves, Pena played in 131 games and hit .245/.304/.304 in 50 games in 2013 (a bulk of the year he missed due to injury) and .245/.304/.347 last year. Pena was the utility player the Braves looked to after the departure of Martin Prado, as he played second base, third base and shortstop while in Atlanta.

Venters, on the other hand, shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. After a stellar 2010 and 2011 seasons (and an All Star recognition in ’11), he has had huge troubles staying healthy, and has undergone three Tommy John surgery’s, and is unlikely to pitch next year. His three healthy years in Atlanta were as productive as a setup man could be in his first three seasons of big league ball, as he had an ERA of 2.23 (thanks to an ERA of over three in 2013 after back to back seasons of a sub-2.00) in 229.2 IP, striking out 258 batters.

The Braves did select the contract of seven players to be added to the 40-man roster and protect them from the Rule 5 draft – Mauricio Cabrera, Brandon Cunniff, Yean Carlos Gil, Tyrell Jenkins, Kyle Kubitz, Jose Peraza and Williams Perez.