By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After respectively electing free agency and being dismissed from the Philadelphia Phillies last month, utility player Pedro Florimon and pitching coach Rick Kranitz are reportedly headed to the club's division rivals, the Atlanta Braves.
On Monday, Florimon signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, per Jon Heyman, while Kranitz is "expected to be hired" as Braves pitching coach, per David O'Brien.
Florimon, 31, missed most of the 2018 season due to fracturing his right foot in late May. In 65 games in red pinstripes over the last two seasons, Florimon slashed .274/.320/.444 with 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 11 RBI, eight walks and 46 strikeouts spanning 125 plate appearances. Florimon has played in parts of eight Major League seasons overall since 2011, with the most time spent with the Minnesota Twins from 2012-2014.
Kranitz was let go by the Phillies in what O'Brien calls a "surprising move," considering Aaron Nola's strong finish in the National League Cy Young Award race.
O'Brien tweets:
Kranitz, 60, previously served as pitching coach with the Orioles, Brewers and Marlins before working with the Phillies. He was Baseball America’s major league Coach of the Year in 2006 in his first season as pitching coach with the Marlins. …
The Philly staff in general improved in Kranitz’s one season as the head pitching coach there. …
In Kranitz, Braves will get a pitching coach lauded for developing strong relationships w/ pitchers. Some Phillies pitchers were said to be upset at his firing last month. His replacement, 37-yo former PHI asst. PC Chris Young, was the sharp-minded data translator of the pair.
As Meghan Montemurro notes, the Braves were one of the teams that contacted the Phillies to request to interview then-assistant pitching coach Chris Young. The Phillies opted to promote Young to keep him, while parting ways with Kranitz.
It appears Atlanta inked their next pitching coach from the Phillies after all.
