It lurked within the background all through Main League Baseball’s three-month lockout.
Freddie Freeman’s reported frustration with the Atlanta Braves. His seemingly pure match in the midst of the Dodgers’ lineup. And the chance that, every time baseball got here again, he might make an enormous splash by signing with Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, all of it got here to fruition, with Freeman agreeing to phrases on a take care of the Dodgers, in response to individuals with data of the scenario. The contract, which is price six years and $162 million, is the fruits of a once-quiet offseason for the workforce that's ending with a seismic bang, giving the Dodgers 4 former MVPs on their roster.
It was solely final October that Freeman was reverse the Dodgers, one of many driving forces behind a Braves workforce that knocked off the Dodgers in six video games within the Nationwide League Championship Sequence en path to a World Sequence championship. Freeman, initially from Orange County, was hailed as a hero in Atlanta. And going into the winter, his return to the Braves felt near being a foregone conclusion.
However as soon as free company opened, a gulf developed between Freeman and the Braves, who have been reportedly reluctant to supply him a sixth 12 months. When the lockout started at first of December, the 32-year-old was nonetheless a free agent. And from there, rumors of his frustration with the membership — particularly after the Braves’ 2021 income of $111 million have been made public final month — continued to construct.
That opened the door for the Dodgers, who have been in want of one other left-handed bat in the midst of the order after Corey Seager’s departure to the Texas Rangers. The Dodgers weren’t the one suitor for Freeman, with the New York Yankees, Boston Purple Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays additionally linked with the extremely coveted first baseman.
However, the enchantment to return residence to Southern California, with a workforce constructed for one more World Sequence run, proved to be an excessive amount of for Freeman, who in all probability will take over because the Dodgers’ on a regular basis first baseman and slide Max Muncy both to second base or designated hitter.
Initially a second-round pick of Orange El Modena Excessive, Freeman has a .295 batting common, 271 residence runs and 941 RBIs in his 12-year MLB profession. He adopted his MVP efficiency within the pandemic-shortened 2020 season by incomes a fifth All-Star choice in 2021, when he hit .300 with 31 homers and 83 RBIs.
The towering 6-foot-5, 220-pound first baseman can be a former Gold Glove winner, and extensively revered as probably the greatest clubhouse leaders within the league.
That status made Freeman a beloved determine in Atlanta, the place he persistently expressed a need to remain all through his contract 12 months final season.
“I haven’t envisioned enjoying wherever else as a result of I haven’t gotten to that time but,” Freeman stated earlier than Recreation 3 of the World Sequence in October. “I’ve placed on this uniform — since 2007 I bought to placed on a Braves uniform with the [minor league] Gulf Coast League workforce. It’s all I’ve ever recognized. … I feel everybody on this room is aware of I need to keep right here.”
Nevertheless, when he and the Braves failed to achieve an settlement — main the Braves to commerce for Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson on Monday as an alternative — the Dodgers swooped in, including much more star energy to an already glowing lineup, and cementing their standing as World Sequence favorites in 2022.
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