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The Braves are releasing left-hander Scott Kazmir, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Kazmir, 34, joined the Braves as part of the trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez and Brandon McCarthy to Atlanta and Matt Kemp to the Dodgers this winter and was seen as a strong candidate to be Atlanta’s fifth starter. He posted a 4.66 ERA in 9.2 spring innings after missing the entire 2017 season with hip trouble before leaving Saturday’s game after one inning with “arm fatigue”. It appears Atlanta will go with Anibal Sanchez as its fifth starter behind Julio Teheran, Brandon McCarthy, Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb.
Kazmir will likely catch on with a club looking for veteran rotation depth, and will come cheap. He’d be owed just the pro-rated portion of the major-league minimum for the team that signs him while Atlanta picks up the $17.67 million owed to him in the last year of the three-year deal he signed with the Dodgers before the 2016 campaign.