Freddie Freeman got his first World Series ring last season, and now he just got a huge contract- with the team the Atlanta Braves took down in the 2021 NLCS.
Freeman signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night, as first reported by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan.
The news comes one day after the Atlanta Braves acquired first baseman Matt Olson in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, and just hours after the Braves proceeded to sign Olson to an eight-year, $168 million contract extension.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Braves offered Freeman a five-year, $140 million deal, but Freeman wanted six years.
Heyman adds that Freeman had bigger offers, but ultimately chose to go back to his hometown to play for the Dodgers.
And there’s also the fact the Dodgers are a juggernaut, and the NL team to beat entering most seasons over the last decade. The Los Angeles lineup looks absolutely ridiculous now:
The Dodgers were projected by FanGraphs to win an MLB-best 96 games even before this move.
Freeman, 32, put together a .300/.393/.503 slash line for the Braves in 2021. He’s annually one of the best hitters in baseball, offering the rare of blend of skills to hit for a high average, hit for power, and walk nearly as much as he strikes out. In his 2020 NL MVP season, he even walked much more than he struck out: a 17.1 walk percentage compared to a 14.1 strikeout percentage.
Here’s some of the reaction to the Dodgers just becoming more unfair:
Of the last 8 MVP winners (the 2 from each league going back to 2018)
The Dodgers have 3 of them.
Lol
— Ryan Parker (@RA_Parker) March 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/russbengtson/status/1504311051101347840
Frederick of "Hollywood"
— Bryan Kephart (@thundercrat) March 17, 2022