After a half-decade in the baseball wilderness, the Atlanta Braves finally began to show some promise in 1980.
The Braves finished that season at 81-80, their first winning record since 1974. They had an emerging core of young position players including outfielder Dale Murphy, third baseman Bob Horner, second baseman Glenn Hubbard and catcher Bruce Benedict, which they’d augmented by acquiring veterans such as first baseman Chris Chambliss and outfielder Jeff Burroughs in trades and outfielder Gary Matthews as one of baseball’s first big-name free agents.
Boosted by the strong showing in 1980 and wary of both Burroughs’ declining production and Matthews’ impending free agency after the following season, the Braves’ front office — led by owner Ted Turner, general manager John Mullen and executive vice president Al Thornwell — were determined to wade into the free agent market once again that winter.