By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

With an NL East Division Championship on their mantle (and in fact being the only team in the National League to wrap up their division prior to the last day of the season), the Braves have put together an unexpected and incredible run in 2018.

Lots of people will get credit, primarily and obviously the players, but also the coaching staff and front office, and deservedly so.

Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos came aboard during the last offseason and made an impression quickly with a financially clever trade, sending Matt Kamp to the Dodgers for Brandon McCarthy and Charlie Culberson (also Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Kazmir, neither of whom made an appearance for Atlanta).

Anthopoulos continued to put manager Brian Snitker in position to succeed throughout the year, taking gambles when necessary but also not dragging out mistakes out of pride (Jose Bautista, for example). He has been an asset to the team since he arrived, and he’ll get heaps of deserved praise for the season the Braves have completed.

But there’s also someone else who deserves praise and will get very little of it.

Part of a general manager’s job is to add pieces as needed, like Anthopoulos has done. But arguably a much larger part of the job, especially in the current era of MLB, a GM must build a team for sustained success. Alex Anthopoulos just got here, so he can’t claim to have done that for Atlanta.

Instead, erstwhile and disgraced former general manager John Coppolella gets credit for a lot of the Braves’ 2018 success.

He was fired (and banned from baseball for life) for shady dealings, but prior to that, Coppy – along with John Hart – tore down a Braves team that was heading for a tailspin and began crafting the young team we know today.

The formation of the 2018 NL East Division Champions is a tale of two GMs.

Who traded Evan Gattis to the Astros for a young, flame throwing pitcher named Mike Foltynewicz? Coppy did.

Who saw the talent in Kevin Gausman being squandered on a last place team and traded for him, installing the pitcher who would eventually take a spot in the postseason rotation? Double A gets the credit there.

Who moved the Braves’ only All-Star from 2015, Shelby Miller, in a blockbuster trade that brought Dansby Swanson AND Ender Inciarte to Atlanta? That was Coppollela.

Which GM took advantage of service time loopholes to make sure that the Braves get six years of Ronald Acuna, Jr., though it also turned out that Acuna struggled to start the season so maybe the notion that he needed more seasoning was right all along? Anthopoulos.

Who signed 2019 All-Star Nick Markakis to lead the young Braves on and off the field? Coppy again.

Who decided after an abysmal-yet-brief run by Bautista that the Braves didn’t need to hunt for a new third baseman and that Johan Camargo was going to produce at the hot corner? Anthopoulos made that call.

Who signed Acuna and Ozzie Albies as teenagers? Well, Frank Wren, actually. I suppose he deserves a little credit too.

Alex Anthopoulos has already made himself a lot of fans in Atlanta during his brief tenure as Braves GM.  After the season they had, he’s very likely going to be a strong candidate for Executive of the Year.

That’s not unfair, he’s done a lot to make sure the Braves stayed in contention long after they were expected to drop out.

But let’s not forget the impact that John Coppelella had on the team that is heading to the playoffs this week.

He may not have turned out to be much of a model citizen, but it might be worth to raise a glass to him. You’re enjoying the fruits of his labor this season.

P.S. It’s probably also worth noting that one of the very last things that John Schuerholz did before ending his legendary run as Braves GM was draft a kid from California named Fredrick Charles Freeman.