TODAY: Atlanta has made the moves official, with Cunniff departing the roster to make way for Bonifacio.
YESTERDAY: The Braves will designate right-hander Brandon Cunniff for assignment, reports MLBTR’s Zach Links (on Twitter). The move that necessitated Cunniff’s DFA remains unclear, though the club has yet to formally announce the reported agreement with utility man Emilio Bonifacio.
Cunniff, 27, made his big league debut with the Braves in 2015, working to a 4.63 ERA with an impressive 37 strikeouts in 35 innings of work out of the Atlanta bullpen. However, he also yielded 22 walks in that time, which contributed to his somewhat elevated earned run average.
A former 27th-round draft pick by the Marlins, Cunniff spent three seasons in the independent Frontier League following his brief minor league career with the Marlins. The Braves plucked him from the indy circuit in June of 2013, and he rather quickly rose through their ranks over the past two years. Cunniff jumped straight to the Majors from Double-A, where his numbers had been outstanding: a 2.02 ERA with a 51-to-20 K/BB ratio in 53 1/3 innings of work.
Maybe they wanted future space for a future signing
Word is they have come to an agreement with Emilio Bonifacio and needed the roster spot.
Probably because Cunniff hit his ceiling. Nowhere in his scouting report does it say he’ll stay in the majors for long.
I like those AA numbers, may not be the best but surely servicable. Hope we can get him back to the minors and maybe with some work, he can become a piece for the ‘pen or someone we can trade later on
His AA numbers are great maybe he should just stay down there for a while
Nothing against Bonifacio but I would have rather the Braves resigned Kelly Johnson
Braves needed the extra center fielder. Beckham would be the signing stopping Kelly’s return