Braves release James Loney

MAY 22: Loney asked for and was granted his release by Atlanta on Monday, according to the team. Loney was no longer needed in the organization due to Atlanta’s acquisition of Matt Adams from the Cardinals over the weekend.

Loney will once again hit free agency, searching for his fourth organization since spring training.
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MAY 18: The Braves have agreed to sign first baseman James Loney, as first reported by ESPN’s Buster Olney. The contract is of the minor-league variety, a league source confirmed to SBN.

Atlanta was known to be looking at veteran first base options following devastating news that star Freddie Freeman will miss about 10 weeks after fracturing his wrist Wednesday night. Loney joins Rio Ruiz and Jace Peterson in the mix at the position, though neither of those in-house options are primarily first basemen.

Loney, 33, joins his third organization after stints with the Rangers and Tigers. After being released by Texas at the end of spring training, he joined on with Detroit and hit .229/.387/.250 in 16 games with Triple-A Toledo. His last major-league experience was with the Mets last season, when he hit .265/.307/.397 with nine homers in 100 games.

The Braves hope that Loney can repeat a similar performance this year, just one season removed from being plucked by the Mets from the Padres Triple-A affiliate as a replacement for the injured Lucas Duda.