Atlanta Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos joined Dukes & Bell to talk about the the team moving on from Freddie Freeman, how tough that was and what was the relationship like between Freeman and himself.
When asked about Freddie’s comments at his introductory press conference with the Dodgers.
“I was working on Kenley Jansen that day so I didn’t get to watch it but I saw clips. Look I don’t want to speak for him but that’s not Freddie, that’s not the Freddie that we know, that’s not the Freddie that our fan base knows,” Anthopoulos said. “Like he said, it’s emotional and that emotion can be sadness, it can be frustration, it could be anger, it can be all those things. I have four years with him, I know it doesn’t sound like much but it does when you’re around someone every day. At moments he was my AGM (assistant general manager) helping me to recruit Craig Kimbrel at times, or before the trade deadline last year I remember we face-timed, he was with Charlie in bed, he’d just gotten back from the road trip probably face-timed for an hour and I’m filling him in on stuff, we’re talking and he was a partner in a lot of ways.”
Anthopoulos talked about the personal relationship he built with Freeman.
“I’ve been to his house, kids have been to his kids birthday parties, exchanged Christmas cards and there’s a lot of history there and there’s a relationship there and it’s emotional. It’s emotional for me, it’s emotional for the fans, it’s emotional for the community, it’s emotional for our players and our clubhouse. He spent twelve years here and he’s a tremendous person, he’s a great guy, I would not judge him on one moment in time. Again I don’t want to speak for him, I don’t think it’s fair to judge him on that, he’s awesome and he’ll always be awesome, he’ll always be a great Brave and he’s a friend for life. And I bet you he would say the same thing.”