3:08pm: With Jonny Venters spraining his elbow today, Varvaro and Martinez are both likely to begin the year with the Braves, tweets MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
7:55am: Right-handed relievers Anthony Varvaro and Cristhian Martinez were a couple of solid waiver claims by the Braves, as both have made contributions to the team's Major League bullpen. However, since both pitchers are out of options, one of them could be traded if Jordan Walden is ready for Opening Day on Monday, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
Walden was injured earlier this spring, and the Braves could retain Varvaro and Martinez for now by putting Walden on the disabled list to start the season. Otherwise, it would make sense to trade Varvaro or Martinez rather than expose one to waivers.
Varvaro, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Mariners in January 2011. He's got some control issues, and has spent much of the last two seasons at Triple-A. He seems the more expendable of the two for the Braves.
Martinez, 31, joined the Braves via waivers from the Marlins in April 2010. Since then he has a 3.81 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and 0.86 HR/9 in 177 1/3 innings.
