Former Brave Adeiny Hechavarria has signed a one year deal worth just under $1 million with the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese NPB league, per MLB Trade Rumors.
Adeiny Hechavarria Signs With NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines https://t.co/qS1xxeGCTj pic.twitter.com/CXSGjYJGgx
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) December 25, 2020
Hechavarria gave Atlanta some important games late in the 2019 season, after being signed to cover for an injured Dansby Swanson. The veteran shortstop returned to the team for 2020, but some really ugly defensive games later in the season, combined with an unceremonious crash back to well-below-average offensive production resulted in him being left off of the playoff roster. At that point the writing was probably on the wall that Hechavarria would not be returning to Atlanta. He gave Braves fans some fantastic bat flips and a legendary interview moment in his short time in Atlanta.
Here's the Statcast on Adeiny Hechavarría's epic bat flip. pic.twitter.com/zrYbBVoH9h
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) August 22, 2019
With regards to the business side of this, Atlanta will need to find a different backup shortstop for 2021. That could come from in the organization, perhaps with the newly acquired Jack Mayfield, who Atlanta claimed from Houston in November, or outside the organization with someone like Freddy Galvis, as some have suggested.