The Braves assigned veteran infielder Charlie Culberson to the minors earlier today but Culberson rejected the assignment and elected free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Culberson had been designated for assignment last week to make room for catcher Chadwick Tromp on the club’s roster.
Culberson’s stint with the Braves this season was an odd one. The 34-year-old veteran signed a minor league deal with the Braves this past offseason and saw his contract selected back in May, but did not make a single appearance for the Braves in nearly a month on the active roster. Considering Culberson found himself unable to make it into a game in the majors with Atlanta even as a member of the 26-man roster, it’s far from a surprise that Culberson has departed his hometown organization in hopes of securing a minor league deal in elsewhere.
Since being selected by San Francisco in the first round of the 2007 draft, Culberson has suited up for the Dodgers, Rangers, and Rockies during his career in addition to the aforementioned Giants and Braves. Overall, the veteran of ten major league seasons sports a career .248/.293/.386 slash line in 1,311 trips to the plate.
Primarily a third baseman, Culberson also offers experience at shortstop, second base, first base, and left field that could make him an interesting veteran utility option for an infield-needy club looking to add depth to their upper minors. That being said, Culberson struggled in 107 trips to the plate with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett this season. In 24 games with the club, the veteran infielder slashed just .204/.237/.255, a weak performance that could cause interested clubs to prefer internal depth options to Culberson’s services.
As for the Braves, the club currently sports no reserve infielders on the active roster as they carry a bench of Tromp, Travis d’Arnaud, Sam Hilliard, and Kevin Pillar. That leaves them likely to require an active roster move should any of Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia, or Matt Olson require a day off. Should that come to pass, the club has Braden Shewmake, Vaughn Grissom, and Luke Williams in Triple-A as infield options who are already on the 40-man roster.