Varvaro officially retired from professional baseball Monday, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

Varvaro was assigned to minor league camp Monday.

Varvaro (elbow) elected free agency after being outrighted off the 40-man roster Friday, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.

Anthony Varvaro was pounded for five runs in an one-plus innings of relief by the Orioles on Friday. Varvaro has given up 11 earned runs in nine innings this spring. He's supposed to be a member of Atlanta's bullpen and he likely still will be, but he'll need to do better than this to keep his pot once the staff gets healthier.

Anthony Varvaro earned his first career save in Friday's victory over the Marlins. With Craig Kimbrel unavailable after working the previous three days, the 28-year old Varvaro worked two scoreless innings of relief, surrendering just one hit, to protect a one-run lead. With a 3.13 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 60 1/3 innings, he's developing into another very dependable option in the Braves bullpen.

Anthony Varvaro or Cristhian Martinez will likely be designated for assignment in order to make room for the newly-acquired Luis Ayala on the roster. The Braves were nearly forced to make the same decision at the end of spring training, but both began the season in the bullpen after Jonny Venters (elbow) landed on the disabled list. Varvaro hasn't been as successful as Martinez in the big leagues, so he's likely the odd man out.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that the Braves could trade either Anthony Varvaro or Cristian Martinez if Jordan Walden (back) is ready for the season. If Walden is ready, there won't be room for both pitchers on the Opening Day roster. Varvaro and Martinez are out of options and likely wouldn't clear waivers, so the Braves could look to find a trade partner. Martinez, 31, is coming off a 3.91 ERA and 65/19 K/BB ratio over 73 2/3 innings last season. Varvaro hasn't enjoyed nearly the same success, posting a 4.43 ERA in 34 major league appearances, so he's more likely to end up elsewhere.