Braves make first spring training cuts

From the Mark Bowman blog we get some (somewhat sad) news about a pitcher we used to have high hopes for and some other pitchers who we never really expected much from:

[...] today the Braves released right-handed pitcher Anthony Lerew, who last week had accepted an assignment to Triple-A Gwinnett.  They also re-assigned Emiliano Fruto, Juan Perez and Rafael Cruz to Minor League camp.

I had already kicked Lerew off the MTM yesterday, but I'm a little surprised the Braves decided to just flat-out release him. Before his injury there had been some questions about his attitude, vis-a-vis his role as a reliever versus a starter, so maybe they were unhappy with him in aspects other than his performance on the field. After all, he had cleared waivers and we could keep in the minors. Per the AJC, the official party line seems to be the usual:

Braves GM Frank Wren said Lerew was released because he wasn't in the mix for the Braves or Class AAA Gwinnett and the move allows him enough time to sign with another team.

That's what they always say, but they should have at least seen if he still has a major league arm. Five dollars says the Royals pick him up.

As for the three pitchers who were released, Cruz was the only one we really heard any buzz about -- he could reportedly throw in the upper 90's.