Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The Braves were at a crossroads in 2014. The previous year, they’d lost in the National League Division Series to the Dodgers and appeared to be a cut below the crop of World Series contenders. A rebuild was on the horizon, and the team decided it would only keep one of its two homegrown star hitters on the payroll through its looming race to the bottom.
Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward had come up through the minor-leagues together after they were both drafted by the Braves in 2007; Heyward in the first round, Freeman, the second.