Braves trade Jason Heyward, Jordan Walden for Cardinals’ Shelby Miller

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves have traded Golden Glove right fielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals for starting righthanded pitcher Shelby Miller and minor league pitcher Tyrell Jenkins.

“It was very difficult to trade Jason, but (the) deal was made to help us short term and long term,” Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart said in a series of tweets today. “This deal also improves us in an area where we are woefully, woefully thin — our minor league system.”

“As we look at Shelby, we see that he has a chance to become a front-of-line rotation type of guy. The Braves are a pitching organization with many young starters that we can grow with. It is VERY, VERY difficult to acquire young, upside starting pitching … This was our best deal. (W)e got a quality starting pitcher for four years in exchange for a quality position player for one year.”

Heyward, who has two Gold Gloves, was chosen by the Braves in the first round of the 2007 draft. A New Jersey native, Heyward attended high school at Henry County High in McDonough, just south of Atlanta. He made his debut in the National league with the Braves in 2010 at the age of 20.

As the Braves struggled to find a lead off hitter this past season, Heyward, 25, handled the duty frequently. He ended the season with a .271 batting average and .351 on-base percentage, to go along with 11 home runs, 58 RBI and 20 stolen bases. He has a .262 batting average with 84 homers, 292 RBI and 63 swipes for his five-year career. He’s under contract through the coming 2015 season.

In Miller, the Braves pick up a right-handed starter who would be under team control through the 2019 season and who will become eligible for arbitration in 2016. A year younger than Heyward, Miller was 10-9 in 2014 with a 3.74 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 183 innings pitched. He started 31 games each of the past two seasons after debuting in 2012 with one start and a handful of relief appearances.

Miller’s lifetime record is 26-18 with a 3.33 ERA. He has struck out 312 batters in 370 innings.

Walden, 27, was a former closer for the Los Angeles Angels who settled into the role of a late-innings setup man for Braves closer Craig Kimbrel. In his two years with the Braves, Walden was 4-5 with 4 saves and 3.15 ERA. He struck out 116 batters in 97 innings.

In his five-year career, Walden is 12-13 with 38 saves and 254 strikeouts in 211 2/3 innings.

Walden likely became available Sunday after the Braves sent second baseman Tommy La Stella to the Chicago Cubs for hard-throwing reliever Arodys Vizcaino, which also freed up $830,000 in additional international free-agent spending for Atlanta. Vizcaino was dealt to the Cubs by the Braves in 2012 for left-hander Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson.

Vizcaino missed the 2012-13 season because of injury but pitched in 2014, hitting the middle 90s on radar guns. His ERA was high at 5.40 in only five innings this past season.

More moves may be on the horizon. There has been talk of moving catcher Evan Gattis to left field, which could happen now with Justin Upton moving to right to replace Heyward. There’s also been speculation that Gattis, whose defensive skills are limited, could be traded to an American League team where he could serve as a designated hitter.

The Braves also could make a move to fill in at second base, where Phillip Gosselin, who has little power or speed, now stands to be the starter. He has a .269 batting average with a pair of homers and two steals in 134 career at bats. The team’s second baseman of the future, the speedy Jose Peraza, is generally considered to be a likely 2016 arrival, which means the Braves could find a one-year stop-gap answer on the free agent or trade markets.