Braves minor leaguer Heath has been released
The Braves have released minor league pitcher Deunte Heath, who was suspended last month after being arrested for soliciting a prostitute in Kissimmee, Fla. while with the Braves in spring training. The Braves suspended Heath on March 26. They formally released him from the organization on April 8.
Heath, 24, was 2-6 with a 5.20 ERA in 32 games, including 14 starts, last season between Class AA Mississippi and Class AAA Gwinnett.
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35 comments Add your comment
Riley Dog
April 16th, 2010
10:39 pm
First. And first on prostitution.
Matt the Brave
April 16th, 2010
10:45 pm
No huge surprise here. Braves way, right?
Mark Twine
April 16th, 2010
10:53 pm
whats wrong with getting a little bang for your buck these days? jk jk
Jerald Holcombe
April 16th, 2010
10:55 pm
very pleased with Bobby’s use of the bullpen tonight and not using Moylan, Saito, and Wagner.
Kristin
April 16th, 2010
10:56 pm
What a freaking jerk. It’ll be fun to see him selling hot dogs at Turner Field one day.
Kristin
April 16th, 2010
10:58 pm
Or the jerk could even get his act together enough to make night fry cook at Waffle House.
thunderbull56
April 16th, 2010
11:02 pm
Tell the bad, tell Ringolsby’s Foxsports.com article on the Braves beeing skinned for Tex DUUUDDE.
Liberty or Tyranny
April 16th, 2010
11:09 pm
Yet another casualty of a victimless crime…..
Yes, he didn’t show good judgment, but the law itself is absurd…..
This kid shouldn’t have his life ruined because of this…..He should be admonished, but also be developed (both as a player and person).
It’s time society wakes up and stops devoting so much effort and rancor towards victimless crimes, and starts focusing on matters that actually affect your life, liberty, and property….
JSS
April 16th, 2010
11:33 pm
Kristin, will you be bringing the oil from the back room? What goes around, comes around Ms. K! Be careful up on that “High horse of yours!”
The Braves had an opportunity to teach him about trafficking and sexually transmitted diseases. Still, his name was not Andruw Jones, McGriff, Lemke, or numerous others who “Gentlemen” knew what was commonplace behavior in the beloved Braves organization.
steve h
April 16th, 2010
11:40 pm
What a freaking jerk. It’ll be fun to see him selling hot dogs at Turner Field one day.
A freaking jerk? Are you really that offended by Heath’s actions?
The Braves did the right thing in cutting him loose, the classy organization that they are. Other organizations would have probably kept him. It’s good business making that move as well as baseball is regarded as “family-friendly” — especially the Minors where everything is family oriented.
scottbravesfan
April 17th, 2010
12:38 am
Feel bad for the guy screwed up his life on one bad mistake. It’s not like he raped someone. He could have been like Big Ben up in Pitt at least he was willing to pay for it.
Mister_suspicion
April 17th, 2010
1:04 am
Wife beating: forgivable, 2 consenting adults agreeing to sex: not forgivable. Steroid use in HOF managers clubhouse: OK, 2 consenting adults agreeing to sex, not OK. I’m sensing a pattern here.
LMAO
April 17th, 2010
4:56 am
Great point, its ok to beat women cause the Braves will pay u for that but when u try to use their money and give it to a woman oh they’ll cut ur butt. So remember kids… soliciting bad spousal abuse good.
Techman78
April 17th, 2010
6:39 am
Whats the big deal? He solicited a prostitute. He didnt sexually assault a 20 year old woman in a milledgeville night club.
Coolin' It
April 17th, 2010
8:30 am
Donte Stallworth kills someone while he is driving drunk, and he serves hardly any jail time and then gets his NFL career back. This kid gets horny and loses everything he has worked his entire life for. The society we live in today is really messed up, don’t you think.
Coolin' It
April 17th, 2010
8:35 am
Steve H….this kid isn’t married. He didn’t cheat on his wife. Who did he hurt? He didn’t hurt anyone in the stands. He didn’t hurt anyone in the Braves organization. He didn’t hurt you. He paid for sex, something men have been doing for thousands of years. It should be legal. It is a choice between a woman and a man. Big Ben didn’t give the woman a choice and what is happening to him? A slap on the wrist. If this had been Chipper Jones, do you think the Braves would have released him? No way. The Braves didn’t do the right or moral thing here. They just possibly ruined a kids life. Go Braves!!!
Coolin' It
April 17th, 2010
8:38 am
Kristen….those were some mighty fine eggs you made for me late last night on exit 14. Thanks, I’ll drop in again the next time I drive through Stupidville.
William
April 17th, 2010
9:08 am
This is a minor leaguer who has been blessed with an ability to perform a sport at a high level. Even then the odds are long against making it to the major leagues. I think that this young man should have been given an opportunity to take a negative situation and turn it into a positive one. It’s harsh to take away someone’s current livelihood when, as many persons here have pointed out, total forgiveness would have been given to superstars or minor leaguers with star potential. And yes…we are taking about a transaction between two consenting adults. I wish the police would spend more time on other “crimes.”
SilverKey01
April 17th, 2010
9:17 am
I’ve never seen the problem with prostitution. Its perfectly accepted in other functioning societies. Its illegal, yes, but this was an overreaction by the front office.
TomDAWG
April 17th, 2010
9:39 am
Hey, I have a health care solution. LEGALIZE prostitution, regulate it and put a tax on it. I guarantee that every single LEGAL United States citizen would have very good health care insurance. I should have run for president……because I have what most of the folk’s up in Washington don’t….Common Sense. Brave’s messed up with this kid. He made a bad decision. If this is the first time the Brave’s have had a problem with him then I believe that he should have been given one chance to prove that he was sorry and amend for his actions.
rico43
April 17th, 2010
9:52 am
The Braves made Heath the victim in a victimless crime. How long was Bobby suspended when he smacked his wife?
Maybe they needed an excuse to axe him. Hope he gets another shot.
GTSteve
April 17th, 2010
9:54 am
Most everyone here is dead on correct on this one…except for Kristen, and no doubt if he was 6 and 2 with a sub 2.00 ERA, he would have not gotten released.
BnB
April 17th, 2010
10:56 am
Wonder if Denny Neagle solicited prostitutes while with the Braves or just after?
todd
April 17th, 2010
11:18 am
I bet you have a real pretty mouth Kristen.
tjhook
April 17th, 2010
11:48 am
Yeah, the Braves are being hypocritical with this one. Keep this event in your file, Braves fans when someone on the big league squad does something stupid. (DUI, maybe). Which one is the bigger crime, Kristin?
TROTTINGHOME
April 17th, 2010
12:19 pm
Can’t even get laid with a consenting adult any more. What the heck is happening to democracy?
LT200
April 17th, 2010
1:12 pm
As a law enforcement officer in Central Florida I can tell you that this is not a “victimless” crime. Prostitution and other crimes lead to larger more serious crimes and most of the women involved in prostitution are not doing it because they want to, they are doing it because they have been made to do it. They can spread diseases or be the victim themselves of horrific beatings. I was not the officer who arrested Heath but I know them well. Maybe its not that big of a deal and it is probably right that if he had a sub 2.00 era with a 98 mph fastball he would not have gotten released but his actions were part of “gateway crimes” that often lead to much worse crimes. I hope the young man learns from this and get another shot with a different organization.
shadetree
April 17th, 2010
1:44 pm
The gateway crime is the law inforcement personel that let drug dealers and other criminals ply their trade while others are arrested. There is your gateway. Anyone can spread diseases. Anyone. If prostitution were legal then it wouldn’t lead to other crimes. I bet pot leads to heroin use too. Do you know that at this very minute our marines in Afghanistan are harvesting poppies. At this very minute. I know soldiers there. We are harvesting and then paying the afghans for their poppies. We are then giving them vegetable seeds to plant instead of poppies. Guess what our government is doing with the poppies. Just like Vietnam there sending them home in dead soldiers bodies. It’s about time Law enforcement went after the real criminals. How about it LT200? Can you arrest the CIA? If not then SHUT-UP until you want to deal with the real criminals.
northbeach Scott
April 17th, 2010
1:56 pm
Wow, that was some expensive tail.
chem
April 17th, 2010
3:37 pm
The whole “gateway crime” argument is flawed to the core EVERYTIME it is used. There is no objectivity in this type of assessment. Technically, I can make a much stronger argument that criminalizing prostitution is a gateway for abuse and disease. It appears the best way to deal with these underlying issues is to decriminalize and regulate: see the success Netherlands has had with drugs and prostitution…. Drinking water is a gateway for becoming an alcoholic? Going on a date is a gateway for date rape? etc. etc. (stupid stupid stupid) Think, people.
chem
April 17th, 2010
3:41 pm
Oh, and my boss “makes” me go to work too. Am I a victim, or should I move and get a new job? …weeell, it does pay well.
Geezer
April 17th, 2010
4:47 pm
He obviously had no future in pro ball….why waste the time, the investment, or your patience on such a loser…Good Riddance….
S
April 17th, 2010
5:09 pm
@Geezer: Yeah, because no pro-baller has ever committed a misdemeanor or a felony. You hate to see someone so young losing their livelihood over a mistake not nearly as egregious as others that other personalities get a slap on the wrist for.
Babe Ruth
April 17th, 2010
8:07 pm
I used to visit the local brothel before every ballgame, and knock off 8 hot dogs before batting practice. Not bad for a guy with a career .342 batting average.
Cornjolio
April 17th, 2010
8:09 pm
Remember when Denny Neagle and David Justice got busted for soliciting prostitutes? Justice was married to Halle Berry at the time !