Braves acquire Aaron Kurcz from Red Sox for Anthony Varvaro

Earlier this week, the Braves announced that they were going to be DFA'ing Anthony Varvaro in a move to make room on the 40-man roster for new signing Alberto Callaspo. However, Braves beat writer Mark Bowman added an important caveat; that Varvaro could be moved in a potential trade. Now, the trade has happened, and Varvaro is headed to Boston to join the Red Sox in exchange for minor-league reliever Aaron Kurcz.

#RedSox announce acquisition of Varvaro for minor-league RHP Aaron Kurcz and cash considerations.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2014

Kurcz spent last season playing for Boston's AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs, where he posted a 2.14 ERA and a 2.50 FIP over 34 appearances. He also participated in fall ball this year, but his ERA went up to 3.86 there. According to soxprospects.com, Kurcz projects to be a "6th or 7th inning reliever" should he make it to the Major League level.

This Braves offseason has been going in strange directions, with some saying that they're rebuilding and others saying that they're "retooling." Personally, I'd say that trading a solid reliever for a prospect who spent last year in AA and is probably headed to AAA next year is a rebuilding move through and through, as this is clearly an effort to try to help piece back together a paltry farm system. That makes the departure of Varvaro a slight positive, in that he won't be leaving for absolutely nothing, so there's that.

Meanwhile, here's a quick & dirty scouting report on Kurcz from our minor league crew:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Scouting report on Kurcz from the one and only <a href="https://twitter.com/EthanPurser">@EthanPurser</a>: <a href="http://t.co/QHRH3vKEJj">pic.twitter.com/QHRH3vKEJj</a></p>&mdash; Dan Simpson (@DSimpson88) <a href="https://twitter.com/DSimpson88/status/545271412546871296">December 17, 2014</a></blockquote>

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