David O'Brien of the AJC had an interesting string of tweets this afternoon after speaking with John Hart about the Braves and a possible Jason Heyward contract extension.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>John Hart said <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Braves?src=hash">#Braves</a> love Heyward, but doesn't anticipate ext. in final year before FA: "My assumption is it's probably the wrong time."</p>— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOBrienAJC/status/532275543841177601">November 11, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Braves?src=hash">#Braves</a> Hart added that wouldn't mean they couldn't sign him a year from now as free agent, just doesn't think an extension will happen now.</p>— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOBrienAJC/status/532275870044790784">November 11, 2014</a></blockquote>

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<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Repeat, he's not saying <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Braves?src=hash">#Braves</a> necessarily trade Heyward or let him walk, just doesn't think extension happens inside last year before FA.</p>— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOBrienAJC/status/532276224639635457">November 11, 2014</a></blockquote>

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So, it now seems less likely that the Braves will be able to extend a deal to Heyward this off-season that'd be tantalizing enough for the right fielder to accept. To be frank, from the perspective of Heyward and his camp, this makes sense. Why go ahead and ink a deal this off-season before exploring the offers that the free agent market could bring, especially after Heyward produced somewhat of a down year offensively, especially in the power department? I'd venture that it's quite likely that Heyward, with the help of new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, could rebound offensively and find himself looking at a bigger contract than he would receive were he to accept an extension from Atlanta this off-season.

This goes without saying, but the Braves may not be able to compete financially with other, richer teams if Heyward does make it to the open market after next season. It also makes the choice for Atlanta's front office even tougher: do you trade Heyward now and attempt to cut your losses, or take your chance with him in 2015 and push hard to extend him even with 29 other possible suitors for him?

Stay tuned, folks. This could become quite a saga.