Ever since I was a little kid I have had a dream to be an Atlanta Brave, yet growing older I have realized professional baseball will not be my occupation. Watching hundreds of games on either television or in person have shaped me into an avid fan of major league baseball in Atlanta. Over the past few seasons I have noticed that the Braves have traded players who were doing well in Atlanta for players who have not filled their expectations. Also, for consecutive years the Braves have traded players that were considered fan favorites such as; Jason Heyward, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Gattis, and Andrelton Simmons. On the other hand the Braves have made good acquisitions over the years. For example, in 2004 Tim Hudson came to Atlanta for three players that barely made it out of 2004.  Furthermore, an interest of mine is to find more information about the players we have received and lost to trades and their successes.

The Atlanta Braves have got five prospects in the 2016 top 100 list. Including the number one overall draft pick from last season, Dansby Swanson who was a shortstop for Vanderbilt the runner-up in the 2015 college World Series, came to the Braves in the trade of Shelby Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sean Newcomb was also acquired by a trade that gave the Los Angeles Angels short-stop Andrelton Simmons. Other players in these five prospects is shortstop Ozzie Albies, pitchers Aaron Blair and Kolby Allard. Seems that the Atlanta Braves traded some big names to get an abundance of youth in the organizations. While having new talent the Braves are looking turn these trades into championships such as how the 1990's Braves turned many young prospects, like Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Andruw Jones, into studs at the major league level. Mark Bowman is a beat writer for MLB.com since 2001. He also is used specifically for the Atlanta Braves organization. I look at him as a credible source due to this website being the official major league baseball site. Throughout the article he also cites draft and prospect experts Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis, and Mike Rosenbaum.

Jason Heyward was a star in Atlanta, for his rookie season (2010) he belted 18 homeruns with 72 runs batted in while batting a solid .277. Jason loved to play in Atlanta due to being from McDonough, Georgia. Over the next four years he hit 66 homeruns and drove in 220 runs, yet the Braves traded him due to not wanting to sign him to huge deal. The braves never said anything to Heyward about a new contract. While losing Jason Heyward the Braves acquired Shelby Miller. Shelby Miller's record was sub-par in 2015 by only having six wins to seventeen losses for the Atlanta braves, yet Jason Heyward helped bring home a national league central championship in St. Louis. Heyward won a gold glove and also hit for a career high .293 batting average while being with the Cardinals in 2015. The source does not have a definite author, but the article on the Jason Heyward trade is from ESPN.com. The article also quotes statements from Jason Heyward, and general managers from both the Braves and Cardinals. With the people involved being quoted and ESPN being the author I think this source is credible without having bias. 

Tim Hudson was acquired by the Braves in 2004 for Juan Cruz, Charles Thomas, and Dan Meyer. Hudson was a great player at the time of the trade and this was thought to be a steal by the Braves. While winning 96 games and having a .702 winning percentage as an Oakland Athletic from 1999-2004, yet Hudson showed much promise at the age of 29. Tim Hudson won 112 games in nine years in Atlanta while winning more ball games than he lost in all nine years.  This trade was one of the most effective trades for a pitcher in the 21st century for Atlanta. Juan Cruz only won 24 games over the last eight years of his career. Charles Thomas only played one more season in his short career where he did not hit any home runs and only batted a sleazy .109 in Oakland. Dan Meyer played four more seasons, 2007-2010, and only won 3 games over that span. The New York Times is one of the most known websites around the U.S. Jack Curry is a credible author who still works with the New York Times and is now also working with YES network writing articles about the New York Yankees. Both Curry and The New York Times make this article credible in my book.

The Braves have made many trades in the 21st century while there are both good trades and bad trades I want to be able to find out if one outweighs the other. Some people can argue that the Braves have made horrible trades over the past fifteen years. Some articles and sources are from writers for the team and they are trying to agree with fans due to the attachment to the big players that get traded. Then some articles are from writers who just write about the facts and could care less about the Atlanta Braves. I may change my research question into why do the Atlanta Braves trade developing players, but I am 95% sure I will stick to the question I have.

