It's been 2-1/2 years since the Braves and Cardinals connected on a major trade that sent Jason Heyward to St. Louis and brought pitcher Shelby Miller to Atlanta. SB Nation's John J. Fleming looks back on the trade, trying to determine who won out in the deal.
Heyward was a great homegrown success story, growing up playing baseball in the Atlanta area and then becoming a star with the Braves. But in November 2014, as the Braves entered a rebuilding phase and had concerns they wouldn’t be able to re-sign Heyward once he hit free agency in 2015, they decided to part ways with him, trading him and relief pitcher Jordan Walden to the Cardinals for Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins.
At the time, AJC columnist Jeff Schultz said the trade was "a huge risk" for Braves president John Hart.
Heyward ended up leaving the Cardinals after a productive 2015 season to sign with the Cubs, where he won a World Series last year. The Braves traded Miller to the Diamondbacks after the 2015 season, in what’s widely seen as one of the most lopsided trades in recent baseball memory -- in favor of the Braves, who got current starting shortstop Dansby Swanson, starting centerfielder Ender Inciarte, and Aaron Blair, who is currently pitching for Gwinnett.
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