House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves should offer Freddie Freeman an extension now

By Alan Carpenter

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 30: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves bats in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 30: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves bats in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – APRIL 12: Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich of the Miami Marlins are joined by Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves while being interviewed for the MLB Network show Intentional Talk on April 12, 2017. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Miami Marlins via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – APRIL 12: Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich of the Miami Marlins are joined by Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves while being interviewed for the MLB Network show Intentional Talk on April 12, 2017. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Miami Marlins via Getty Images) /

Freeman’s Savings & Loan

Freddie Freeman is in a bit of a different place than Yelich… but not that far away, either.

Freeman is 30½ years old, does not have an MVP trophy (he does have 3 Top-6 finishes in the voting), but does have a gold glove and a silver slugger award.

His career OPS+ is an exact match for Yelich at 137 (with a slightly higher raw OPS value).  They are both 37% better than the average offensive performer – regardless of park, league, or position.

By comparison Freeman is not currently underpaid… at least not to the degree that Yelich was, for sure.  He’s been at-or-above the $20 million level since 2017 and stands to receive $22 million this season.

Those who put the dollar values on WAR points would disagree, but the market would not dictate that he get the $300 million his numbers would suggest he’s earned, either.

The 6′-5″ first baseman also has exactly 2 years of contract remaining… except there’s no option involved here.

The are additional factors also at work that might drive both sides to the table:

  • Freeman’s oft repeated desire to stay with the Braves forever.
  • Freeman’s elbow.
  • The Braves need for cost surety going forward.

Atlanta doesn’t need to be wondering about how or whether to fuss about Freeman’s deal when entering a walk year (2021).  They just went through a painful separation with Josh Donaldson – another player that ‘really wanted to stay in Atlanta’ – when the two sides could not get together on the numbers.

That had better not happen in this case.  That’s why now is the right time to get this done.

Freeman might believe his surgically-repaired elbow is now perfect, but his agent should remind him that nothing is that certain in life and an extension at this age and at the peak of his performance curve is never a bad idea.

Atlanta knows that everybody is getting more expensive and that their best shot to insure that their ‘core’ stays together for multiple competitive years is to get the leader to stay put… with dollars determined here in 2020.

Freeman has already done so for the ‘bad years’, and while that all happened under prior administrations, this new General Manager has to recognize that such an act is important to the same franchise that he just inked an extension to support.

All that together is why the Yelich deal represents a very reasonable jumping off point from which to begin negotiations.

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