The Atlanta Braves’ most-recent rebuild didn’t officially commence until the 2014-15 offseason, but the events that precipitated it took place several months earlier.
It was six years ago this week — Feb. 4, 2014, to be exact — that the Braves’ two young, homegrown stars took divergent paths. First baseman Freddie Freeman agreed to an eight-year, $135-million contract extension, ensuring he’d remain in Atlanta for the bulk of his career.
Outfielder Jason Heyward, an Atlanta area product who was drafted a round ahead of Freeman in 2007, agreed on just a two-year, $13.3-million extension. That deal bought out Heyward’s final two years of arbitration, but did not at all push back his free agency timeline as far as Braves officials might have hoped.