NASHVILLE – They stared the Braves’ trading frenzy relatively quietly with a Tommy La Stella-for-Arodys Vizcaino deal with the Cubs on Nov. 16, 2015, but the Johns – general manager John Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart – really got the deal machine cranked the next day by sending Jason Heyward (and Jordan Walden) to St. Louis in exchange for pitchers Shelby Miller and prospect Tyrell Jenkins.
That’s when the howls of protest began from so many Braves fans upset that one of their favorite players, Heyward, had been traded away rather than re-signed.