If everything went according to plan, it sounds like Freddie Freeman would have preferred to still be a member of the Atlanta Braves.
Freeman landed a monster deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night following an illustrious run with the Braves.
The door was closed – or, rather, slammed – on Freeman returning to the Braves when they traded a treasure trove of prospects to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Olson, then promptly signed him to an eight-year deal. Although Olson is a fine player and should be a more than capable Freeman replacement, the optics of just letting a franchise cornerstone walk weren’t great.
Perhaps making matters worse, Freeman apparently wanted to go back to Atlanta. That’s according to ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney, who revealed that note on his podcast “Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney” on Thursday.
“In the aftermath of everything that happened with Matt Olson, his contract, Freddie indicated to teammates he was really upset,” Olney said. “Like, he wanted to go back to the Braves, that’s what he told them.”
Ultimately, the roughly $140 million deal the Braves were reported to have offered Freeman was not that far off from what he ended up getting from the Dodgers.
Who knows why the Braves ultimately went another direction. Maybe it is as simple as they wanted to get younger and not pay Freeman into his late 30s. Whatever the case, it left Freeman having to go with his second option.
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