Braves release James Loney

Well, that was quick. Not even a week after signing with the Braves in the fallout of Freddie Freeman’s injury, James Loney has left the Braves. The team made the announcement in a succinct tweet this afternoon, and apparently this was by mutual consent.

Upon signing with the Braves on a minor league deal, the team assigned him to the G-Braves with the idea that he’d take some time there before coming up as a potential temporary replacement at first base. That all changed when the Braves managed to bring Matt Adams into the fold via trade. Loney obviously saw the writing on the wall and understandably asked for his release.

While the Braves have acquired their band-aid solution for the next 10 weeks, the only question now is what’s next for the first guy they acquired to address this situation. What does the future hold for James Loney? Nobody knows. But for now he goes down in the pantheon of legends such as Mike Aviles, Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Howard, and many others who the Braves have acquired recently only to release them in very short order. The Loney Era will be remembered fondly here in Braves Country, and he’ll be missed for just about the same amount of time that he spent with the Braves.