In Braves camp vying for backup role, former All-Star John Buck has instead decided to call it a career.
The team announced Thursday that the 11-year veteran, who played for seven teams, was retiring to spend more time with his family.
Buck, who was a non-roster invitee this spring as a position where Atlanta already has Christian Bethancourt and offseason acquisition A.J. Pierzynski, hit .320 with a home run in 25 at-bats.
Buck hit 134 homers over his career, including 20 in his All-Star season of 2010 with the Blue Jays.
He began his career with the Royals in 2004, spending six years there before heading to Toronto. But after his '10 success he left for the Marlins, inking a two-year, $11 million deal. Buck would hit 28 homers in 246 games.
Dealt back to Toronto along with Emilio Bonifacio, Mark Bueherle, Josh Johnson and Jose Reyes, on Nov. 19, 2012, he was traded again less than a month later to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey deal.
Over the last four seasons, Buck bounced from the Mets to the Pirates to the Marlins and then the Angels before inking a minor-league deal with the Braves in January.
With Buck gone, Atlanta now has 43 players on its roster.
