Inside an office at SunTrust Park, a brand-new stadium situated in the suburbs of Atlanta, Braves general manager John Coppolella engaged in what has become an annual ritual. He apologized to his fans for trading Alex Wood to the Dodgers.
Coppolella did not engage in dramatics. No news conference was required — the industry understands how the Dodgers benefited from the deal. Coppolella was responding to a fan on Twitter on Friday morning. His tone was blunt.
The complicated three-team trade that brought Wood to Los Angeles in the summer of 2015 was, in Coppolella’s words, “terrible” for his team.