![]() ![]() ![]() Or letting ALBERT PUJOLS walk away rather than try to navigate what would have come next. In more visceral terms, it means trading Mookie Betts to get David Price’s contract off the books. The only word buzzier than “efficiency” in MLB front offices these days is “sustainability.” In conceptual terms, that means plotting out moves that keep your team within striking distance - and within the team owner’s prescribed budget brackets - every season. Rebuilds themselves are largely falling out of fashion. The Cincinnati Reds are giving up on their (scrambled, half-hearted) effort to make a Freeman out of Joey Votto as we speak. Miguel Cabrera is on his last legs as the Detroit Tigers try to take flight after bottoming out. And he was an established, nine-figure free-agent-to-be when their reincarnation reached the pinnacle. He was an established, nine-figure extension-worthy player when the Braves blew it up. Wrack your brain all you want, and you probably won’t come up with a star who bridged a rebuild quite like Freeman. It’s a situation unlikely to repeat itself. The final spurt finally clinched a World Series ring for the franchise he stuck with. The franchise has not missed the playoffs since.įreeman’s eight-year deal wound up as four seasons of wasted potential and four seasons of kinetic contention. They combined forces with Freeman and quickly signed below-market extensions with GM Alex Anthopoulos (installed after Coppolella was banned from baseball for violating rules around international amateurs). The dynamic duo - not yet legally able to drink - arrived on the scene in 2018. In terms of results, though, they struck gold with Ronald Acuña Jr. In terms of intentions, the Braves didn’t tank hard enough or early enough to expect the rebounds achieved by the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. It was the third of four straight losing seasons. He was 26 years old, accelerating into his prime as the franchise strategically hit rock bottom. They also stumbled to an 0-9 start … that turned into a 4-17 one … and then a 9-28 one, at which point manager Fredi Gonzalez was shown the door. The 2016 Braves got the best 162-game campaign of Freeman’s career to date. Olson and Freeman come by All-Star production in different ways, but they are both 6-foot-5, left-handed first basemen who cashed in after four full seasons.įreddie Freeman's celebratory parade through Atlanta after winning the World Series may be his last moments in a Braves uniform, (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Why 2022 Freddie Freeman didn't equal 2014 Freddie Freeman There’s good reason for the similarity: a younger Freeman is pretty much what they’re getting. And on Tuesday, they signed him to an eight-year, $168 million deal that is shockingly similar to the eight-year, $135 million pact a younger Freeman signed back in 2014 - if you adjust that for inflation, it comes out to $161.8 million. On Monday, the Braves traded for the slugging Oakland A’s first baseman Matt Olson. Six years later, the Braves have turned that thought into a reality, whether Freeman wants to or not. Just because you trade some of my friends, it’s going to make me want to leave? I never once thought of leaving the Braves.” Why would I ever want to leave? They’ve given me everything I’ve ever hoped and dreamed of. Three years later they give me an eight-year deal. “Every time I knocked on the door, they opened it and let me come through. Everybody else wanted me to pitch,” he told the paper. “When I came out of high school the Braves said I could hit.
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