Orioles trade Brad Brach to Braves

The Baltimore Orioles traded right-handed reliever Brad Brach to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday for international slot money, the team announced.

Brach was a key piece of the Orioles bullpen over the last five seasons, but he's having the worst season of his eight-year career. In 39 innings, he owns a 4.85 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, and has recorded 38 strikeouts. He's especially struggling of late, with opponents hitting .406/.441/.719 against him over his last eight games.

The 32-year-old does have a 3.05 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 9.7 K/9 ratio with 31 saves since 2016.

"There was three clubs in particular that we were working on with this trade and ultimately we went with the Braves offer," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN.

Dealing Brach marks the third time the Orioles have shipped off one of their impending free agents over the last two weeks.

And It's the second trade the Braves have made this week that involved receiving a reliever for international signing money.