Most people expected Freddie Freeman’s return to Atlanta to be emotional.
Some might not have expected it to be as emotional as it was.
It was an interesting few days at Truist Park over the weekend. Freeman’s messy departure from the Braves to Dodgers has been well-documented, but his return to Atlanta featured a lot of tears – and apparently the level it reached was off-putting to some Dodgers players.
Comments from legendary Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in which he said he didn’t want the Dodgers to be “second fiddle”, was the main thing that raised antennas about how Los Angeles’ players might have felt about the situation.
And appearing Thursday on the “Tony Kornheiser Show”, ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney said that there most certainly were some who had “their eyebrows raised.”
"(Kershaw’s comments were) done in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday, after Friday night’s standing ovation for Freddie and all the tears that he had,” Olney said. “Right away, I spoke to the Dodgers organization, saying that for Clayton Kershaw, that was kind of like a high-inside fastball.
“Now, there’s some interesting parts to this. First off, Freddie has said that he has spoken with Clayton about that. I was told over the weekend there are definitely Dodger players with their eyebrows raised. I think though that what probably works on Freddie’s behalf is as he’s going through all this emotion – the three days leading up to Atlanta, all the crying that we saw on the field with the Braves, he was in the Braves clubhouse a couple times over the weekend – he also batted over .400 and won Player of the Week.
“So he was able to thrive while processing it. So I do think if they move forward it was probably healthy for everybody to have this conversation, because however we got to this moment, Freddie is a Dodger, and he’s going to remain a Dodger in the years ahead. He’s not going back to Atlanta anytime soon.”
It has hardly been a secret that Freeman wanted to make things work with the Braves. That might make some Dodgers uncomfortable, but the reality is that Freeman’s on-field performance hasn’t dropped off, so that’s what ultimately should matter for them.
Also, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts not only defended Freeman, but also commended him for being so open about his emotions.
At this point, if any Dodgers players are uncomfortable with it, that’s probably on them. Freeman continues to play well, the manager has his back, and despite his clear fondness for Atlanta and the Braves, there’s nothing from a performance standpoint to suggest he is mailing it in with Los Angeles.
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