re: The ATL Thread: 2021 World Champion Atlanta Braves Offseason Thread

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Grant McAuley

@grantmcauley

Freddie Freeman on hearing about #Braves trade for Matt Olson: "The emotions were all over the place, to be honest. I got the news when I was at workout that the trade had happened. I had no idea that that was going to happen... I didn't really speak for a couple of hours."

3:21 PM · Mar 18, 2022

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Kelsey Wingert

@KelsWingert

“I saw them. That’s all I’ll say.” - Freddie Freeman on Alex Anthopoulos’ tears speaking about the end of the Freddie era.

3:20 PM · Mar 18, 2022 from Acworth, GA

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Anthopoulos rejected both of Excel's proposals. The two sides agreed on only this: All offers and proposals were off the table. Both sides needed to prepare for an Atlanta squad without Freddie Freeman.

QUICKLY, ANTHOPOLOUS BEGAN making those plans -- and he knew that if Freeman was not going to be the Braves' first baseman, he needed a star: a high-end player for the sake of the team's run production and defense. The Braves have won the NL East each of the last four years, with Freeman at first base, but their competition was only getting tougher: Mets owner Steve Cohen has spent aggressively this offseason, adding ace Max Scherzer, center fielder Starling Marte and others; the Phillies have loaded up on bullpen help, and locked up Kyle Schwarber.

So very late on Sunday, March 13 -- a day after Anthopolous ended talks with Freeman's camp -- Anthopoulos reached out to Billy Beane, who heads baseball operations for the Athletics, and asked for Beane's price for Olson. For Oakland, this was an opportunity to deal with a desperate trade partner. As one executive said, "Billy knew Alex couldn't roll out Joey BagofDoughnuts out there at first base to replace Freddie Freeman."

But if they got a star, the Braves could shape the conversation around Freeman's departure. The message to the team would be that even without Freeman, the team was serious about winning.

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Olson was a seemingly perfect candidate: an All-Star, a big-time power hitter and an excellent defender. And the cherry on top for the Braves is that he was born and raised in the Atlanta area. He had grown up a Braves fan, rooting for Jones and others. All of that added to his potential public-relations value to the Braves' organization, no small consideration.

As Freeman remained unsigned, the Braves' ownership and Anthopoulos had borne the brunt of criticism over the negotiations for months -- and the scrutiny climbed after the disclosure that the team's parent company, the publicly traded Liberty Media, had profited greatly in 2021.

About noon on Monday, Beane presented his final asking price to Anthopoulos: a four-prospect package, fronted by catcher Shea Langeliers and outfielder Cristian Pache. Anthopoulous said yes. Not long after, Pache was called into a side office in the Braves' clubhouse. As he emerged, he told teammates he was part of a deal for Olson.

Anthopoulos met with reporters, and with his voice cracking, he talked about how hard it had been to make the trade -- although he couldn't say exactly why. Because of baseball's rules, he couldn't say out loud that Freeman, an unsigned free agent, would not return.

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Mark Feinsand @Feinsand
Per source, $57 million of Freddie Freeman’s $162 million guarantee from the Dodgers is deferred from 2028 through 2040. Those deferments bring the value of the deal to approximately $140 million.

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So glad AA didn't cave.

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In his history of negotiations with Anthopolous, Abbott says, "Alex is someone you don't negotiate against. He's someone you negotiate with. ... You work with him and tell him what you want."

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