Braves executive witnesses fruits of his labor

PHOENIX — Billy Ryan had a unique perspective as the Braves and D-backs played a four-game series at Chase Field this week. Ryan spent four seasons as Arizona’s assistant general manager before becoming Atlanta’s director of baseball operations.

“It’s kind of an interesting place to be,” Ryan said. “You have ties to a lot of the players that are playing in the game. It’s exciting to see so many of the players who have changed hands between these two teams go up against each other.”

Since joining the Braves before the 2015 season, Ryan has played a part in two significant trades made with the D-backs. His tenure in Arizona (2011-14) provided him some familiarity with Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair, who along with Dansby Swanson, were acquired via the blockbuster trade that sent Shelby Miller to Arizona in December.

This seemed like a lopsided deal from the start and it has gotten worse from the D-backs’ perspective as Miller has been with Triple-A Reno since producing a 7.14 ERA in 14 starts before the All-Star break. Inciarte has proved to be the dual threat the Braves envisioned, and since reaching the big leagues last week, Swanson has shown why the D-backs took him with the first overall pick in the 2015 Draft. Blair is …

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