Braves vs. Freddie Freeman — The Negotiations
Part of the change in feelings for Freddie Freeman is because of the way negotiations allegedly went down with Atlanta. And we’ll never really know the truth, so keep in mind anything you hear — including what I’m about to say — is pure speculation.
What we gather from reports is that Freddie Freeman had an offer on the table from the Atlanta Braves for 5 years and $140 million. It had been pretty clear all along that GM Alex Anthopoulos was not going to give him that sixth year.
Once it got to a point where AA had to move on or risk missing out on other big moves, he pivoted to Matt Olson.
There was a report the Braves didn’t give Freddie’s camp a head’s up they were going to make the trade. Maybe that would have motivated Freddie to take the Braves’ offer, or maybe it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference considering the two sides had been talking for months, possibly years, and his camp knew where the line in the sand was and knew the risk that the Braves could move on.
Once that happened, other potential suitors for Freeman did the same with the Yankees signing Anthony Rizzo and the Blue Jays trading for Matt Chapman.
That left his potential suitors down to the Dodgers, Rays, Red Sox, and Padres.
San Diego needed to move Eric Hosmer first, so they were never likely. And I get the feeling he didn’t really want to play in Boston or Tampa.
That would make sense based on a report from Jon Heyman saying he turned down a bigger deal elsewhere that I’m assuming is Boston since we know the Rays and Braves offered less than the Dodgers.
In the end, Freeman got his sixth year from the Dodgers, but at a less annual average value than what the Braves offered.
Pure speculation here, but I believe Freeman and his team overplayed their hand, thought they could get more money — closer to 6/$180 — and once suitors dropped out he took the best deal on the board in a place he wanted to play.
Maybe this is me being biased or being naive from everything Freddie said about wanting to end his career in Atlanta, but I can’t imagine he’d turn down 5/$140 from Atlanta if he knew the best offer he’d get from the Dodgers was 6/$160. Especially when you consider the tax difference in those states.
Was a sixth year really that important to him.? Sures seems that way.