In the wake of a still-stunning departure from the Braves in free agency, former NL MVP Freddie Freeman has dismissed his longtime agents at Excel Sports Management, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney. Freeman is currently listed as self-represented within MLB’s central database, and, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), the MLBPA sent an email to agents requesting that they not contact Freeman — a common occurrence when a player is in the process of changing representation.
Freeman, however, isn’t characterizing things quite so definitively. The Dodger slugger issued a statement to Mark Bowman of MLB.com suggesting that he has not yet fully committed to parting ways with his reps (Twitter link):
Last weekend in Atlanta was a very emotional time for me and my family. I am working through some issues with my longtime agents at Excel. My representation remains a fluid situation and I will update if needed.
That’s hardly a firm denial of the report but at least leaves open the window for the relationship to be repaired and remain in place. Freeman largely deferred to his statement when addressing the topic with L.A. beat reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). The five-time All-Star said he “learned a lot” about the free agent process after speaking with “the other side” — presumably a reference to his post-signing chat with Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos — but called it “time to move on and focus on winning championships with the Dodgers.”
Olney reports that the timing of negotiations coming out of the league’s lockout were particularly frustrating for Freeman, who had a standing offer of five years and $135MM from the Braves once the transaction freeze was listed. Multiple counteroffers from Freeman’s camp failed to produce a deal, and the Braves pivoted to acquire/extend Matt Olson — a sequence that is said to have shocked Freeman. Olney’s piece goes into more detail on the purported sequence of negotiations for those curious about the ostensible specifics.
The reports and Freeman’s statement come on the heels of an emotional weekend series that saw Freeman return to Atlanta for the first time since signing a deferral-laden six-year, $162MM contract with the Dodgers. Freeman was set to address the media at a press conference there but, upon entering the room, had to step out and attempt to collect himself. An outwardly emotional Freeman fought back tears while professing a lifelong love for the Braves organization despite signing elsewhere in free agency. He was emotional upon receiving his World Series ring from manager Brian Snitker as well, and was understandably choked up when the Atlanta faithful showered him with a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate in his first at-bat of the series.
Whether Freeman remains with Excel or indeed hires new representation has little bearing for most fans moving forward — though it’s obviously of keen interest to those working within the industry. Excel has represented Freeman throughout his career, negotiating an eight-year, $135MM contract extension that still stands as the largest contract ever signed by a player with between three and four years of Major League service time despite being signed back in 2014.
Excel represents dozens of big leaguers, including Freeman’s now-former teammate and free-agent-to-be, Dansby Swanson. Asked by Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution whether the Freeman saga might make him think twice about his agency, Swanson replied that he would never leave Excel nor let any decision made by Freeman impact his own representation choices (Twitter link).
Man this guy is annoying
Elaborate if you’re going to go against the outstanding reputation which precedes him.
Why should he have to elaborate? We all saw how it played out.
Freeman thought he would get more. The Braves didn’t take the bait. Then he blames his representation while signing somewhere else.
Now, the first series back brings this new rep news? He just signed a long term contract!? Nobody cares anymore, it’s done.
Freeman let his agents handle it instead of having them work for him, something Chipper advised him directly against.
Freddie thought he’d always be a Brave, but agents loyalty comes in the form of dollars and cents.
Agents reportedly gave AA a hour to pick between two contract offers, at which point I’m sure the initial call to Oakland happened.
Freddie let his agents mishandle what should have been a sit down conversation between Braves, Excel, and Freddie resulting in a life long Brave.
But instead he’s playing for the Dodgers, fitting for yet another LA ending to a naive talented persons life story.
It’s a damn shame.
@Bigmetsh8ter
Given the compressed nature of the off-season, I think he *had* to let his agent handle it. He had to be working on getting himself ramped up and in shape. I suspect if the league had never decided to lock out the players, Freeman would have been more hands on, and there would have been more time for offers/counter offers. I suspect he’d still be a Brave.
I’m glad he’s talking all of this now. Best way to deal with these sort of things is to be honest about what you’re feeling so you can honestly assess what you need to do in order to move on.
Big – Well said! This is the EXACT scenario I brought up when JD Martinez said about his next contract “I’m letting my agent handle it”. My EXACT words were the player should be involved, because if another team offers slightly more money the agent will ALWAYS follow the money without regard to whether the player will be less happy with the new team.
I feel bad for Freeman, but he’s the one that screwed up by trusting his agent. He can enjoy the money all he wants, but it won’t change the fact he went from a beloved hometown hero to just another Dodger hired hand.
Col_chestbridge
He had to be working on getting himself ramped up and in shape.
======================================
Even at my best, I can only work out 2 hours a day, maybe 3 hours tops.
Assuming 9 hours sleep, that leaves him 12-13 hours a day to straighten this out. That he didn’t have enough time to do this is a terrible excuse. Here’s what I suggest to every player.
1-Call up your agent and find out what the top offer is.
2-Call up your GM and tell them what that offer is (even if you fudge a little high). Ask your GM how close they can come.
3-Decide if the difference is worth leaving. $50M, maybe. $10M? No chance.
This is not rocket science, and this is Freeman’s fault.
Fever Pitch Guy
My EXACT words were the player should be involved,
================================
I was so fracking annoyed when Jason Bay left. Not so much that we lost his talent, but the fact that he went to Citifield.
1-Probably no more playoffs.
2-Citifield will expose your lack of range.
3-Fenway was built for guys like Bay.
4-And he was beloved by RS fans.
I don’t make every decision about money, and someone with $100M in earnings shouldn’t either.
I agree. he had to more hands on and not let the agent look out for themselves. I mean let’s be honest agents get more money the bigger deal the player gets so to think that agents won’t look out for themselves is naive . they are supposed to look out for players best interests and ATL is where he wanted to be so instead of them working to get that done they jetted to more money and kinda pushed ATL away.
@ibleedblue
When did I ever question his reputation? Did I say anything about that? No. Didn’t think so.
Just because you have a great reputation doesn’t mean you can’t be annoying. He’s very annoying. Crybaby money hungry baby who didn’t get what he wanted. He let his agent take the wheel after chipper told him that was a terrible idea. He’s just salty as he never thought the Braves would break up with the great Freddie Freeman. Braves are cutthroat and made the right baseball move. Got Olson who’s younger and right in his prime. Meanwhile Freddie is 32.
Kershaw said it right “Hope we aren’t second fiddle”. Nailed it with that quote.
What are the dodgers going to do come postseason when their big free agent acquisition is crying on the field because they play Atlanta?
He’s bad for the team if he can’t get over this. If I’m the dodgers I’m potentially looking to dump this guy.
The Braves FO got it right, again. The difference in ages b/t FF and Olson is dramatic, and for the privilege the Braves gave up just four modest, replaceable prospects.
I only wish they weren’t in the same division as the Mets.
Agreed, such a crybaby.
Too nice and too honest for you?
Man, dodger fans didn’t like that comment
As we Mets fans say, FFF!
So cute that you don’t mind publicly outing yourself as a Mets fan right now, since they are in pre-choke mode. Dozens of losers with new screen names will be popping up in September.
I’ve always been an open Mets fan, stop projecting your nonsense onto other people.
Troll
Poor, poor little Freddie. Only making $520,000 a week and sniff, sniff got caught in a run down and was thrown out. Go cry me a RIVER somewhere else.
I too like robots to represent us
Kershaw was close when he said fiddle, Freeman needs a violin.
Great info, minor error listed should be lifted I think.
2023 Dansby Swanson SS Philadelphia Phillies
Swanson can afford to talk tough now since he is on a career hot streak.
Naturally, he is typically playing his best during his contract year. It is not a coincidence. After he signs, doesn’t matter where, he will return to his normal below league average hitter. Show me the money.
Phillies don’t sign players that play defense. I thought this was common knowledge.
Xander B
Kershaw says LA is second fiddle in Freeman’s heart and he isn’t comfortable in the Dodgers clubhouse. Would be cool to see an all-Dodgers brawl at the all-star game as Freeman and Kershaw duel for the soul of the franchise
Feelings will be hurt!
“Soul of the franchise?”
Unless Freeman wins 3 MVPs and helps the Dodgers win 3 more titles while being voted World Series MVP, he’ll never be in the same realm of Kershaw. The keys to the franchise are going to Mookie Betts and/or Walker Buehler.
It’s just unfortunate they’re both injured.
You spelled Eddy Alvarez and Jake Lamb wrong. At least they’re healthy
That’s kind of a high bar considering Kershaw traditionally gets shelled in the playoffs and that’s only when he’s been healthy enough to pitch. But yeah, the 60 game season bubble World Series means way more than the one Freeman win last season with the Braves.
Really good point. Kershaw has had so many postseason failures that it became an almost neighborhood watch. Luckily he was hurt last NLCS or I’m sure he would have given everyone another piss poor performance to remember.
Unfortunately, this is the narrative that casual fans will remember about Kershaw. All that could have been erased had the Astros not cheated in 2017. CK dominated them in game 1, then got shelled in game 5 at Houston with all the trash can banging. Then in game 7, on only two days rest, he dominated them again for 4 shutout innings at Dodger Stadium when Darvish couldn’t make out of the 2nd inning.
It’s so unfortunate because even though he wasn’t in his prime in 2017, he was still a very great pitcher.
It also could’ve been erased if the Dodgers offense leave runners in scoring position in game 7. If they score some runs that game, they most likely win and Kershaw’s shortcomings are ignored.
I made a typo. don’t*
Right! Had the Dodgers known what pitches were being thrown, perhaps they wouldn’t have left men in scoring position.
Or, and bear with me on this, perhaps the Dodgers didn’t need to know what pitches were being thrown. Perhaps they just needed to show up offensively like they did in games 4 and 5 in Houston. Crazy thought, I know. Also, Kershaw had playoff meltdowns as far back as 2009. In fact, prior to the 2017 World Series, he had 6 meltdowns in the postseason where he was unable to step up and shut down the opposing team when the Dodgers needed him to. He even continued to have playoff meltdowns after the 2017 World Series. No, that narrative was never going to be erased.
Clayton Kershaw is a future hall-of-famer, but he wasn’t exactly reliable in the postseason and no, the Astros cheating doesn’t change that: bolavip.com/en/mlb/every-clayton-kershaw-postseaso…
Good God. How many times did you need to edit and submit your posts before you actually got what you wanted to say out correctly? Jeezus.
And despite the numbers, all it would have taken was just that one World Series in 2017 for people to overlook the past shortcomings by Kershaw. That was the last time he was truly the ace of the staff.
Now, people like yourself still go to the well of stats to show he’s not as
great as people think he is.
And I get it – you’re an Astros fan through & through, and will stick by your team, but to act like the cheating didn’t affect the outcome is choosing to bury your head in the sand.
Fact: They cheated. If they didn’t need to cheat to have an advantage, they wouldn’t have done it. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove or disprove, They cheated. There is nothing getting around that.
And this garbage? Bolavip? It’s not even a reputable sports site that covers the major 4 sports in the US. It’s main audience is Latin America.
And did you even take a decent glance at the article? Not only is it poorly written but they even, unlike you, acknowledged the Astros cheated. Take a look at this –
2017 World Series vs. Houston Astros, Game 5:
Once again, Kershaw looked dominating in Game 1 but couldn’t do it again when it mattered most…. To be fair to Clayton, it was later revealed that the Astros cheated and stole signs in that title run.
I MEAN, COME ON! WHO ARE YOU KIDDING? JUST STOP!
Even the poorly written article by a podunk online sports site acknowledges what the Astros did. Jeezus Kr-eyest.
1. I’m allowed to edit as much as I want during the time given to me.
2. Blame the Astros cheating as much as you want, but he had reputation before the 2017 World Series aka when he was the ace of the staff, and he lived up to that reputation after the 2017 World Series aka when he was no longer the ace of the staff. However, let’s say the Dodgers won in 2017. Guess what: there’s all the times he dropped the ball in the playoffs after 2017. In other words, you’re still wrong.
3. I’ll use whatever site you want: cbssports.com/mlb/news/clayton-kershaw-postseason-…
The Astros cheated?! YOU DON’T SAY! My point from the very beginning has been two-fold:
1. Dodgers just needed to show up offensively. Instead, they got shut down. There’s no excusing that. Surely a team that could keep up with the cheaters in terms of slugging in game 5 and even outslug them in game 4 could’ve done it again in game 7 on their home field.
2. More importanty than that, the notion that beating the Astros would’ve negated Kershaw’s reputation of being unreliable in the playoffs is false, bud. After all, he collapsed vs the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. If you think that’s not valid because of the cheating, ok, but there’s still his 2018 NLCS collapse vs the Brewers. There’s also his collapse vs the Nationals in 2019. He was always going to have that reputation and two games where he got it right wouldn’t change any of that. In fact, it’d turn him into the equivalent of a broken clock.
“Blame the Astros cheating as much as you want…..”
You can’t even admit your home town team cheated.
All you have to do is write, “Yes, the Astros cheated” and then every excuse or reason after that to give credence to what the Dodgers didn’t do is negated.
Can you admit they cheated? Can you admit that cheating affects the outcome of a game? That’s been my point the whole time.
Your username says it all. You’re interested in excuses.
“You can’t even admit your home town team cheated” – apparently my sarcasm went unnoticed. Alright, the Astros cheated. Feel better?
“All you have to do is write, “Yes, the Astros cheated” and then every excuse or reason after that to give credence to what the Dodgers didn’t do is negated.” – I just did that, and nope. That’s a copout. Dodgers got shutdown on their homefield. Cheating doesn’t excuse that.
“Can you admit they cheated? Can you admit that cheating affects the outcome of a game? That’s been my point the whole time.” – Can you admit that Kershaw’s reputation would’ve been the same with or without the Astros cheating? Can you admit that if there was no cheating and the series still turned out the way it did, you have no excuses as to why the Dodgers weren’t up to snuff in game 7 on their homefield?
“Your username says it all. You’re interested in excuses.” – says the dude excusing all the time Kershaw collapsed in the postseason and excusing the Dodgers being shutdown on their homefield. The irony. I’ll tell what you: if you stop with the excuses, mr. kettle, I’ll stop with the excuses. Deal?
Also, to illustrate even further just how wrong you are, Neurogame, You went from saying Kershaw wasn’t in his prime in 2017 to saying that was the last year of him being the Dodgers ace. You completely ignored how Kershaw was second in the NL CY Young race that season. If he was the ace that year, then guess what: he was still in his prime for that season. To quote you, “I MEAN, COME ON! WHO ARE YOU KIDDING? JUST STOP!” You made excuses from the very beginning.
So unfortunate, the admins didn’t approve your original post. They probably thought what you write was garbage as well.
“Can you admit that Kershaw’s reputation would’ve been the same with or without the Astros cheating?”
This is errant and laughable. When you win the World Series, that changes the narrative. Had he been the ace of the staff and won in 2017, the narrative changes. All he needs is that one chip. He had two great pitching performances to bolster his résumé – Masterful in Game 1 and a shutdown relief effort in Game 7. And you can’t or shouldn’t treat every game, every series, or every year like it’s in its own vacuum. You’re assuming that if he succeeded in shutting down the Astros in game 5, all post-season performances after 2017 would be static or remain the same. You don’t know. I don’t know. Nobody knows. But to say that everything remains the same and he’s just this big failure with the same stats is erroneous. Sports is just as much of a mental game as it is a physical one. We don’t know the results of Clayton Kershaw’s future pitching performances, let alone ones in the post season, had he won Game 5 in Houston.
“Can you admit that if there was no cheating and the series still turned out the way it did, you have no excuses as to why the Dodgers weren’t up to snuff in game 7 on their homefield?”
——— “Yes, I can.” Had there been no cheating and the Astros & Dodgers played on a level field, and the Astros beat the Dodgers in those seven games, I have no problem saying the Astros were the better team.
And let’s drive home your hypothetical – “If there was no cheating….”
If there was no cheating….. if there was no cheating….
This is where your glass of logic breaks – THERE WAS CHEATING!
So, here’s an extra tidbit prior to game 1 of the 2017 WS –
**The Dodgers are batting .289 with 26 runs scored at home this postseason. The Astros are 1-4 on the road, batting .213 with just 13 runs scored. Houston has scored 31 runs at home, where it is undefeated this postseason.**
Well, isn’t that so convenient?
You admit the Astros cheated, but to you it is just a statement. It means nothing to you because you believe it didn’t affect the outcome of 2017. They cheated and it doesn’t matter – They would have beaten the Yankees anyways. They would have lit up Clayton Kershaw in game 5 anyways. And because they beat the Dodgers at home in game 7, they would have won the World Series anyways.
That’s how you’re thinking.
Pffft. Kershaw’s raw stats in the postseason are fine. Mildly unlucky on flyballs but he’s K’ing 9.9 per 9, 2.4 BB per 9. 7.3 H/9. 1.074 WHIP.
That’s a he!!uva pitcher, even so, particularly against postseason competition. Who cares what casual fans think?
Actually, my original post is still there. You’re just proving me right by continuing to make excuses, Neurogame.
” You’re assuming that if he succeeded in shutting down the Astros in game 5, all post-season performances after 2017 would be static or remain the same. You don’t know. I don’t know.’ – that goes both ways, bud.
“And let’s drive home your hypothetical – “If there was no cheating….” “If there was no cheating….. if there was no cheating….” – I think you mean your hypothetical because that’s what you first brought: “If there was no cheating, that narrative is gone”. That’s laughable because like you just said: You don’t know. I don’t know. That’s where YOUR glass of logic breaks. I know what you’re gonna say “I admitted I don’t know” – and yet you still maintain the claim that two games would erase his pre-2017 collapses.
“All he needs is that one chip” – he got. Narrative is still the same.
“You admit the Astros cheated, but to you it is just a statement. It means nothing to you because you believe it didn’t affect the outcome of 2017. They cheated and it doesn’t matter – They would have beaten the Yankees anyways. They would have lit up Clayton Kershaw in game 5 anyways. And because they beat the Dodgers at home in game 7, they would have won the World Series anyways.’ –
Question: do you believe the Astros cheated in 2019? MLB says they didn’t, but it stands to reason they did. I don’t know if you believe they did or not, but let’s say they did regardless: the Nationals were able to overcome that. The Dodgers couldn’t? “The Nationals had time to prepare” – but the Dodgers outslugged the Astros in Houston in game 4, shut them down in game 6, and kept up with their offense in game 5. Not bad for a team who didn’t prepare. The Astros very much did cheat and saying it affected the series, regardless of whether or not it’s true, is nothing more than an excuse. Not only that, but you’re not me so don’t pretend to know how I really feel about their cheating. You wanna know my thought process? I’ll tell you:
1. They cheated and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Nothing I say changes that. Because of that, I made peace with it.
2. Momentum is important and it can change on one play and the Astros got that one play in Marwin’s home run in game 2. Perhaps in alternate they don’t cheat, they don’t get that home run. Then again, maybe they do because of how difficult it is to cheat on the road and the possibility that they got it without cheating on the road.
3. The fact that the Dodgers were still able to be in a position to win that series in spite of the cheating is a testament to how good they were that year, and yes, they still had a very real chance to win.
4. You can talk about how the Astros did in the on road that postseason, but just like the Dodgers later on, the Yankees were in a position to win that ALCs series, but their offense went cold. Go ahead and explain why the Yankees knew they had to win in Houston, and yet they were only able to score 2 runs in 3 games. I’ll wait. Yes, they would’ve beaten the Yankees.
Face it: your argument is just as flawed as mine.
Ran out of time to edit: the Yankees scored only 3 runs in 4 games in the 2017 ALCS. My mistake, Also, I admit I don’t know if the Astros would’ve still beaten the Yankees, but based on how the Yankees were completely shutdown on the road, it stands to reason they would’ve.
Neither of us know what an alternate timeline where Kershaw shuts down an Astros would be like. The difference between you and I is after this reply, you will still maintain the notion that two games would erase 6 postseason collapses aka the notion that you presented in the very beginning. Your own logic that you claim refutes my argument also refutes yours and makes you look like a hypocrite. Have a good day. I’m done here.
I don’t care about 2019. You’re bringing in a different situation, a host of new variables and making a comparison with different teams.
We’re not getting anywhere. You’re trying to convince me of your view and vice versa. It’s not going to happen.
I’ll disagree with you and you with me and we’ll leave it at that.
Enjoy your 4th of July weekend.
You too. You make great points and I dig that. Respect.
I appreciate your ability to argue without being denigrating as well.
One last thing, aside from the cheating, as someone who is a die-hard Astros fan (I’m assuming you are), how do you feel about the Yuli Gurriel incident from 2017?
For me, that situation burns me up. The fact that the Houston organization still let him play in every single World Series game after his racist gesture towards Yu Darvish, and in a sense, insulting an entire culture I think is a tragedy. I feel like Houston should have taken initiative and benched him for two games, but they let MLB discipline him AFTER the season which I think is of little penalty.
They put winning a championship ahead of human decency. One reason I’ll always feel confounded by their lack of action is because Gurriel played in Japan for a entire year. And his team the DeNA BayStars, accommodated him because he was having a difficult time adjusting. They had a special chef prepare him Cuban food because he didn’t like the Japanese offerings and they bought him round trip train tickets between cities because he wasn’t comfortable with flying.
His hosts were gracious and for him to say that he didn’t know the gesture was offensive followed by him mouthing an epithet in Spanish makes the apology hollow and disingenuous. I think I was further sickened by him getting what was described as louder than normal cheers from the Houston crowd the following game.
But that’s my opinion. I’m genuinely curious about yours.
I was a big fan of a Houston prior to 2017. Two of my favorite players were Biggio and Bagwell. I rooted hard for them in the 2005 World Series as I knew that would be Bagwell’s last season as his frozen shoulder could no longer be sustainable for play. I rooted for Roy Oswalt, a slight pitcher who threw gas.
But that was a very long time ago and things changed.
What Yuli did was gross and I wish he didn’t do that. It was uncalled for Just like the cheating, I accepted early on that these are grown men who make their own decisions. Also, I born in 1992 so I wasn’t watching basketball yet during Clutch City. This championship, as tainted as it is, is special to me because it’s the first time I saw a team I like when it all.
That was ALMOST what Kershaw said lol
That is EXACTLY what Kershaw said lol
FletcherFan691 hour ago
That is EXACTLY what Kershaw said lol
=====================================
No he didn’t. I’m just not sure if your lying or too lazy to Google it. What he said was:
“It was very cool (to see Freeman’s reception Friday night),” Kershaw told Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He’s obviously been a big contributor for our team. And I hope we’re not second fiddle. It’s a pretty special team over here, too. I think whenever he gets comfortable over here, he’ll really enjoy it. It was a good night for him (Friday).”
Stupid Dumb Sleepy Joe lol
Learn to read
Is there something inaccurate about my quote? It is copied word for word.
Admitting that you are wrong will be good for you.
I don’t think you can join a successful organization like the Dodgers in free agency and be called its soul after a half season. No way.
Two nations have broken out in the Dodger clubhouse: The Freddie Followers, who want to learn the ways of a winner who was able to win a real ring, and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse who keep following Mickey Betts and Mickey Kershaw and think the 2020 trophy is more than a piece of metal. SAD!
Roots for the angels and calls the dodgers Mickey Mouse.
Your jealousy is showing bro
I don’t root for any team. I’m just a fan of David Fletcher… who coincidentally has the same number of real rings as Clayton Kershaw
He’s only a troll. You can’t have a civil, logical or useful conversation with someone who has “69” in their username.
Take a cursory look at his responses to this article alone. Does anyone glean anything useful or positive from them? Imagine what he does in the comment sections of other articles, let alone other boards. It’s wasted energy.
If David fletcher won the 2020 fake ring you be celebrating…..don’t lie
Dude, with that username, he’d be fellating himself if Fletcher got that WS ring.
Even if thats true Freddie is the reason he is a Dodger and not a Brave right now. He could have said “no”, he could have taken the Braves offer, he could have had an actual conversation with Anthapoulos. He choose to detach himself and because of that will play the next 5.5 years where really doesn’t want to.
The business of baseball can be harsh sometimes. Freddie learned the hard way. Quoting the great Stone Cold Steve Austin, “DTA: Don’t Trust Anybody!”
I’m sorry but this is what happens when you put money ahead of what you really wanted to happen. If Freddie wanted to stay in Atlanta, he could have easily done so. Instead he put total contract value ahead of what he wanted, Atlanta called his bluff and went out and acquired Matt Olson. I respect the hell out of AA for doing this. Atlanta had offered its best and final deal; Freddie, via his agents, said it wasn’t good enough so Atlanta pivoted to another option. Exactly what a good GM / POBO should do. I was actually shocked the Dodgers signed him to that size of a deal after Atlanta had moved on. They could have offered him much less as they were really the only team left who had interest in him at the price he was looking for.
While Freddie is a great guy, he has no one to blame but himself for the Atlanta negotiations ending the way they did. I agree with Kershaw too; it’s time for Freddie to stop proclaiming his love and affection for the Braves and embrace his new team 100%. It’s okay for Freddie to be emotional upon his return to Atlanta but the Dodgers are paying him not only to play for them but to be a clubhouse leader and a team icon. He can’t do that if he keeps inferring that his heart is still in Atlanta. I’d be sick of it too I was part of the Dodgers organization.
You remember when Tino Martinez signed with St Louis and he practically spent the entire time there saying how great playing for the Yankees was? This Freeman situation is starting to turn into that.
If the Yankees beat the Diamondbacks in the ’01 World Series maybe Tino would have been re-signed but since they lost and Brosius and O’Neill retired George decided to go on a spending spree replaced Tino with Giambi. Tino would spend the next three seasons longing for New York until the Yankees brought him back in 2005.
Freddie should’ve listened to Chipper. I suspected right away this was how it all went down.
The key to staying a life long Brave; listen to the life long Brave
The Dodgers didn’t sign FF to a ‘big deal,’ though. They signed him to a number very close in current value to what the Braves offered, $135m in present-day value.
I suppose LA could have gambled that no one else was going to swoop in, and tried to get FF to sign for even less, say $130m, but there were numerous ways that could backfire, so they essentially gave him what the Braves were offering all along until the Braves went for Olson.
Didn’t Sly Stallone make that one famous long before that? It was one of his lesser known flick (unjustly incarcerated-DTA in prison) so Austin likely made it far more popular.
I know he enjoyed his time in Atlanta, but let’s not act like he’s not loving LA. He’s not going anywhere.
I’m sure he loves getting paid, definitely
Exactly
Having your Dad and Grandpa watch you play nearby in Dodger Stadium is also one of the more meaningful ways to play out the third act of his career.
I don’t know man, they crying and blubbering and the fact we’re talking about it calls into question how much he loves being in LA. He loves it so much Kershaw called him out for treating LA as a second fiddle.
Self-represented AKA a free man.
Solid word play.
he will be free in 5.5 years to sign a 4 year deal with the angels
“10 years, take it or leave it” – Arte Moreno, December 2027
So true
“The man who represents himself has a fool for a client”
I have a fantasy that the Braves trade Olson straight up for Freddie. It’ll never happen, but I wish it would.
Actually, it would be Matt Olson, Shea Langeliers, Cristian Pache, Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes for a guy they could have resigned for the same, albeit less deferred money. Kinda silly, but AA deserves a measure of goodwill for the miracle he pulled off last season.
Weird. I have the same fantasy
I am odd. My fantasies involve totally different things than baseball players.
Cry me a river.
BTW Freddie you signed the contract not your agent(s). Nobody made you pick up the pen. If you really wanted to stay in Atlanta you would have. It’s not like they didn’t make you a very competitive offer so suck it up Sparky and live with the decision that was yours and yours alone .
If he really wanted to stay he would have told his agent to get it done no matter what.
My understanding from what happened is that he did tell his agents that. They got greedy and gave AA an ultimatum (accept 1 of 2 offers within 1 hour). AA pivoted to Oakland for Olson. It wasn’t until the Braves had already traded for Olson that Freddie found out what happened.
A guy who wants it done “no matter what” doesn’t give ultimatums.
His agents did it without his consent, at least that’s what was reported.
But what’s done is done. He’ll always be one of my favorite Braves players up there with Chipper and Dale Murphy. Hopefully when he’s done in LA the Braves can bring him back as a DH for a season or two before he retires assuming he’s got anything left in the tank.
He could probably sue them if they actually did that without his consent; doubt that’s how it played out.
That’s the report the Braves MLB.com beat writer had the other week.
There’s really no other way to look at this. Ya, his agents may have given him some bad advice about the Braves willingness to go higher, but still…..
Nice pic, Don. Go crazy folks!
Thank you. Excellent memory!
Freeman took a new job and he misses his old friends, colleagues, neighborhood…….happens to millions of us in all professions. The grass isn’t always greener.
Or maybe this has nothing to do with missing Atlanta. Dude seems pretty happy in LA.
Hey Freddie? No one forces you to sign where you don’t want to be. You’re in control. Just ask Jose Ramirez.
His agent is the reason he isn’t a brave and anyone who watched fridays game and other previous interviews knows that he wanted to be a brave more than anything and that he put too much faith in his agents advice.
Was he forced to hire that agent and then forced again to follow their advice? Is this being investigated?
He’s a grown man who makes his own decisions. Blaming the agent is lame.
Na, we all know that we lean on people who are better experts than we are on certain subjects. Have you ever leaned on a financial advisor and lost money? How about leaning on contractor for repairs to something full well know you have no idea what he’s talking about or if you will get burnt, but proceed forward anyways? Mechanics also…. Freddie is a baseball player and they hire agents specifically to do that… be the expert on the topic so they have someone to trust and lean on their negotiation skills and advice. Of course Freddie should accept some of the blame himself, but the agent clearly screwed up here and Freddie is clearly not happy being a dodger at the moment
And at the end of the day, I have control over whether I choose to believe that advisor, mechanic or contractor or seek a second opinion, just like Freddie. Just this year, we saw Correa do this during the lock out.
This seems like one of those situations where Freddie would likely have been better off keeping all this stuff as private as possible instead of speaking to the media about it.
What one DOES and what one SHOULD do often does not sink up. Still the decision was his, the responsibility was his. If he got hosed by an agent that’s his responsibility too.
Scott Boras has made a career of this. That is their job to get the most Ca-ching for their clients. If Freeman didnt want to leave he could easily have negotiated his own deal like Curt Schilling did.
Like the old saying says….CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Dismissing your agent after the fact seems like nothing more than a symbolic move. Is there even going to be a next contract? What’s done is done. Isn’t like LAD is gonna trade him to ATL for Olsen. Tom Seaver survived after the Mets dealt him to the Reds. Tony Perez, Pete Rose, George Foster, and Joe Morgan all did just fine after their trades. Dale Murphy did get overly emotional when he left ATL, so there’s your comp.
I wouldn’t say Foster did just fine. He was pretty hated by a lot of Met fans for a while.
But at least he didn’t sing the blues about not being in Cincy any more. I remember things did not go well during his time in NY, though.
He sang some bad enough blues to get basically tossed from the team in ‘86.
If he switches agents, who gets the commission on his current deal?
On one hand, the old agent negotiated the deal, seems crazy that they could lose that commission a few weeks, months, whatever later. OTOH, the new agent could be in a position of working for free for years waiting for a new contract.
However the contract is worked out. I personally wouldn’t negotiate a deal if after that deal is finalized someone else could get my commission.
New agency can get some endorsement commission. Maybe they provide legal financial services. Crumbs compared to mlb contract.
Why would anybody else but the old agency get the commission? The agency negotiated the contract and Freddie signed it under the old agency.
Because geniuses here think they’re experts in contract law.
Freeman is a start person
Freeman is a stop person
Freeman is a pause person.
I get the sense that he let his ego get in his way and when the ink dried on the Dodgers deal he realized that he wasn’t making significantly more money than he would have in Atlanta, the AAV was the same, the taxes were a little steeper so the after tax/after agent cash was virtually the same- so he left ATL for essentially nothing- and he misses it. He loved the organization and he left over what amounted to an insignificant difference in salary for his purposes- and that sixth guaranteed year he couldn’t get from ATL was a non issue if he’d stuck around. He would have probably gotten that year or more years later on a restructure or a small extension or a retirement tour on a final season- with Atlanta.
Some people actually can make enough money that it stops being their primary motivation and I think Freeman realized this after it was too late.
He probably would love the Dodgers to trade him back to the Atlanta Braves.
I think he realized that long before the ink dried. Probably after the braves traded for Olsen
I wonder if another aspect that’s affecting him (because it’s human nature) is that he went from being big fish in a smaller pond (both in the Braves’ org & Atlanta area), to a smaller fish in a big pond. He was one of, if not the, most prominent player in the Braves organization, whereas he’s not ever going to be that in LA, relatively speaking, imo.
Aaron Judge should pay attention to this closely. He’s on virtually the same tack as Freddy right now… Or, perhaps he just doesn’t care and would rather have a few extra million or the extra guaranteed year.
First, Freddie is a pretty big fish in the Dodgers’ pool.
Second, Judge will be the biggest fish in any pool he wishes to go.
It’ll be interesting to see where Judge goes, and for how much, and whether some nitwit owner decides that his fluke 2022 somehow represents a giant step forward in ability at age 30.
7/$217m? Hard to believe he’ll get more than that elsewhere. LA’s not in the market. The Mets would be utter fools given the holes in their rotation after 2022, assuming their payroll isn’t breaching $300m. Toronto’s unlikely. Texas is maxed out. Will the Yankees nudge the offer up or add an eighth year? Or does Judge really think that in his 30s he’s supposed to get 9/$280m or something equally inane?
Aaron Judge is not on the same path. New York isn’t nearly the city it used to be. Due to injuries and longevity, Judge hasn’t been the true fan favorite, that FF was in ATL. The weather’s not the same. Other than slugger reaching free agency for the first time, what is the similarities? I would say Judge is on a much more similar path as Mookie Betts.
No dodger hitter gets the cheers every game that Freddie does. Cody never did in 2019, Betts doesn’t get them even though it felt like he single handed carried the squad to a ring, JT, the heart and soul of the offense doesn’t, Trea barely gets a whisper without runners on. The only dodger I can recall getting the cheers Freddie does is recently Kershaw and a bit further back Gagne when he was the chosen one of closing
I love Freddie, great career in Atlanta. His homer off Hader in the NLDS was awesome. But for Christ sake can he just move on?
Agreed. A sad song that’s distracting from the 1B that is fulfilling a dream being there. Hope FF got closure, but he’s now standing in the way of the end goal. Get a pint of ice cream, put on Adele and get it out of yer system.
I don’t think he’s a distraction to the Braves. He’s a much bigger distraction to the Dodgers
Agency gets you $162 million and you fire them? Fickle Freddy.
The agency had very little to do with him getting paid. It’s not like he was gonna get minimum wage without them. The argument could be made that it’s surprising he didn’t get more.
He has to pay the agency a percentage of those $162M, even though it is less valuable than the $140M the Braves offered
Even if his agency did him dirty, Freeman still has the final say in any contract negotiations. He’s the one who has to put his name down in ink on any contract, not his agent/agency. No one forced him to sign with LAD.
His newly-fired agent/agency still gets the 5-10% of the whole contract. So what’s the big news here?
Future clients and severing a revenue stream by this going public, especially if you’ve followed the dumpster-fire negotiations between a late-career Jeter, his agent (Casey Close, Freeman’s lead agent) and NYY FO.
It’s interesting that the last paragraph was Dansby Swanson (a current Excel client about to be a FA) stating he would “never leave Excel”, like that was ever an option.
Casey Close is one of the best agents out there. I guess Freeman didn’t like Close bluffing that Freeman was going to sign elsewhere if they couldn’t meet his number within an hour’s time. It’s business and Close did his job there.
Only if Close told Freeman that was going to be his strategy. That’s what all this boils down to. What did Freeman know and what did he do about it.
I just cannot see the possibility of miscommunication here. Who knows?
JoeBrady: That’s a valid point, but if I’m not mistaken, Freddie didn’t want to know the details, he just wanted them to “handle it,” which was a huge mistake if he truly cared where he ended up.
I could be misremembering that aspect, but I’m pretty certain he admitted he didn’t want to be involved in the details of the negotiations. Chipper Jones advised him against letting his agents negotiate on his behalf & also warned against playing the money game with Atlanta.
In reality, if Freeman really wanted to stay, he would’ve don’t what Jose Ramirez did.
Plain and simple. Dudes agents screwed the pooch and LA bailed them out. No other team that checked in on Freddie was going to go to the asking price Excel put out there. Dude wants to be a Brave. Heck he even gave more info to Bowman “ Braves MLB beat writer” than the local LA guys. He looks so out of place in a Dodgers uni. Look at Kershaw’s comments too. Read Busters article and take a look at the comments Chipper made. He warned Freddie about this process and was obviously disappointed. At the end of the day for me as a Braves fan I remind myself about that Tomahawk on the front of Jersey with Braves above it. The name and number on the back sans Jones 10 will change. Unfortunately 5 will never be worn until he truly comes back.
Can they trade him back to Atlanta lmao? This would be bizarre. Pretty sure he wants to go back.
Freddie may want Atlanta, but it sounds like all of Atlanta is saying:
“Hey, man, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
They don’t need him in Atlanta.
From what I read, you combine the deferred money plus the California state taxes and he actually will get less money than the overall package the Braves offered him. As what previous people said here….he overplayed his hand.
Ultimately Freddie is responsible, but it’s pretty obvious his agency mishandled the negotiations.
Correct, I know I read that TB actually offered the most when factoring in deferred money (LAD) and state tax. Not sure if TB’s offer was still on the table when he signed with LAD, knowing that ATL pulled their offer when given an ultimatum (trading for Olson).
Larry Jones told Freddie what was going to happen, and it happened just like Larry said it would. You never disregard the advice from legends.
Freddie had plenty of time to pull his quill out and sign with the Braves, but you can see that he is clearly disturbed by what happened. He should have been a Braves lifer, but he only has himself to blame. You just have to know what is going on with contract negotiations when it’s your contract being discussed by third parties. Freddie was at 1st base with a runner on and looked away whilst the pitcher threw over on a pick off move and the ball sailed into right field and the runner scored….
I like your metaphor and am trying not to interpret it too literally as it may some new logic/ metaphor word problem.
And ironically, Larry/Chipper’s longtime agent, Bud Abbott (and BFF) is Matt Olson’s agent. Ironic that he gave Freddie that advice, then they’re not only able to trade but also extend Olson. You know that when they made that trade they do so knowing they would be able to extend if nothing else because of the relationship between Chipper, ATL FO and his BFF/Olson’s agent.
Trade crybaby Freeman for Olsen and all their top prospects.
They don’t have any prospects left.
Olson*
Here is the obvious deal, Freeman was pressured and lied to by his agents to sign with LA. He wanted to be in Atlanta. Now he regrets his decision because LA will never be Atlanta.
He won’t play out the full years of his contract in LA.
You mean Atlanta will never be LA. Who the hell wants fo live in Atlanta
The wretched south isn’t appealing to you?
ha, spoken like a true moke
ha, spoken like a true moke. la is a cesspool.
His wife and kids. That is what this is all about. They miss home.
Obviously Freddy misses Atlanta, I have one thing to say, grow up. Many men and women change jobs it’s called a transition. He played the greed game and lost, and for me I would not trade Matt Olsen even for Freddy. I think the Braves got the best end of the deal, although we may regret including Shea in the deal that brought Matt to Atlanta. Matt Olsen quietly plays the game and plays it well. Freddy got greedy and now regrets it, when alls said and done AA made the right call
@olereb, well said. And I think this story and all its posts are telling to where Braves Nation is on this topic. Outside of 3 or 4 posts mildly expressing displeasure with FF being gone, no PUBLIC OUTRAGE or chants of “WE WANT OUR Freddie BACK”. Seems like Braves Nation is 2 thumbs up with having Matt in the line up. Plus average attendance is up 10k from last year. True there is the WS bump, but 28 to 38k seems staggering?
Olson*
Wait… so freeman didnt leave because of Georgia’s racist voting laws?
And the racist tomahawk… and the picture of the native american on the uniform?
Atlanta needs to change their name… no longer Braves. How about peaches?
You even replied to yourself, ‘Bobby’. Atlanta do not need to change their name, and no, the picture of a native American mainly triggers woke white people, the local native Americans have approved of their uniform. So now we have a tool being ‘racist’. I tend to agree, there are a lot of racist tools out there.
Try something else, and keep your political views out of sport.
WoKe. Libs owned.
you got it, doggie!
suck it up snowflake you can’t get what you want
lol
Trade freeman for Olson
Well said Crime Dogg.
Typical of Los Karens to collude with agents to bring players to their team. Terrible
Did Excel give a tight decision window to Atlanta or maybe did Atlanta coax Excel in to doing it? IE. they wanted Olsen all along? 4.5 years younger. Freddie will be 33 in September, Olsen 29 next March. Atlanta gambling age catches up to Freddie sooner than later? To avoid a PR snafu, they played Excel “like a fiddle”?
While $162M is more than $135M those sums are both so vast it’s not the same as someone leaving a job making $35,000 for the opportunity to make $62,000. There’s nothing of consequence one can do in life making $162M that they couldn’t have accomplished while making merely $135M. So if you really and truly love playing in Atlanta stay there and take the $135M.
It’s like Pujols going on and on about how much he loves St. Louis and then going to Anaheim for marginally more money.
Proposed Three-player Trade BRAVES DODGERS & NATIONALS .We all know FREDDIE FREEMAN IS NOT HAPPY IN LA<So here is a three-team trade The Nats send JOSH BELL switch-hitting first baseman to The DODGERSmBRAVES send MARCELL OSUBA to LA . The NATS get KYLE MULLER and two braves prospects from Augusta & ROME plus a Double AA prospect from The Dodgers in turn Freddie Returns from LA to the Braves where he and Olson and Flip flop at DH & First Base. Braves assume FREDDIES Contract while the Dodgers take Marcels .FREDDIE Returns to ATLANTA . Dodgers get a right-handed DH in OSUNA plus BELL at First Base. FREDDIE COMES BACK HOME and THE NATS end up with 4 or 5 players to help in rebuilding. Freddie gets away from KERSHAW and this is a win-win for all three teams. THOUGHTS ON THIS WILL BE APPRECIATED.
sounds great to me… I am a Braves fan and hate Ozuna anyway. lose him!!!
Freeman came up a Brave and didn’t want to leave. The man stood by what he felt his value was and honestly should have been given his ask from ATL being that he was the face of the franchise during their retooling phase and up to their WS win. Freeman also played with and acted with class and had ATL has his first (and probably) only choice in mind to play for in 2022. Obviously ATL, not swayed by emotion, made a business decision and probably the better outcome for them with regards to player progression for contract value going forward in Olson. Obviously ATL moving on from Freddie blindsided him and he “settled” for that nice contract in LA. I can understand his emotions while acknowledging that he’s a Dodger now on a very good team and needs to make sure his head is all into winning for LA going forward.
His agent didn’t read the room. The braves called their bluff. They moved on rather quick and stuck a deal for Olsen. He wanted to be a Brave for life. For the life of me, I can’t understand how 140/5 is life threatening. Have a nice life.
This is the tweet from Doug Gottlieb:
“Casey Close never told FF about the Braves final offer, that is why Freeman fired him. He found out in ATL this [past] weekend. It isn’t that rare to have happen in MLB, but it happened – Close knew FF would have taken the ATL deal”
Like Kenny Rogers sang…..
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done
I feel bad for Freddie.
Freddie should have stayed with the Braves. He realizes it now, but it’s too late. sometimes when you play games with the team, they move on…
man, y’all blab a lot…
man, y’all blab a lot…blab, blab, blab. I would probably die before I could read all these comments. blab blab blab
Listen to Jeff Pasan defending Close on Rich Eisen. Why would he defend? Close and excel are clearly close sources.
He is usually mr scoop today he is vague…
Ownership has to be questioning this uncontrollable and blatant display emotion over his move to LA. I get it, but come on, man. Blubbering is something most baseball fans do not want to see.