Trades in sports can be fun. Some fans get to enjoy having a new star. Others may be saying goodbye to a star but welcoming in a promising young prospect. But for the people actually getting traded, it can be a different story — particularly if they’ve never been traded before. That appears to be the case for catcher William Contreras, who was traded away from the Atlanta Braves on Monday.
In a blockbuster three-team deal between the Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics, Atlanta acquired catcher Sean Murphy from Oakland. As part of the same deal, Contreras was sent to Milwaukee. And shortly after finding out that he had been moved, Contreras took to social media to express his literal heartbreak.
Contreras reacted to the trade with a tweet that had eight broken heart emojis and nothing else.
💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
— William Contreras (@Wcontreras42) December 12, 2022
That, of course, brought a strong response from several people in the baseball world.
oh dang https://t.co/4i8HwG2x0X
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) December 13, 2022
My heart is broken https://t.co/wY1oadKoR9
— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) December 12, 2022
https://t.co/JEA2ggfLdF pic.twitter.com/DEJjKVrx0z
— Moonlight Graham (@ReeceKelleyG) December 12, 2022
Forever our Wild Bill https://t.co/BSrtRjr4GX
— Eric Cole (@leprekhan) December 12, 2022
Contreras made his Major League debut with the Braves in 2020 and has been with the organization since signing with them in 2015. In 2021, he played in 52 regular and — while he had only one postseason at-bat — won a ring with Atlanta. The 2022 season was a breakout campaign for Contreras. He hit .278/.354/.506 with 20 home runs and made the All-Star team for the Braves, who won 101 games en route to a National League East title.
If Contreras is looking for silver lining, he’ll likely get to see more of his brother, Willson Contreras, now that they’re playing in the same division. Willson left the Chicago Cubs in free agency but remained in the National League Central with the St. Louis Cardinals.
[William Contreras on Twitter]
